2. The Benefit Cap
[ch 2: page 21]What’s new?
• New lower benefit caps were phased in between November 2016 and January 2017
• These have reduced the total amount of benefits households with children can receive from £500 a week to £442 a week in London and £385 a week outside the capital
• For single adults without children living with them, the caps are reduced from £350 a week to £296.35 a week in London and £257.69 a week outside the capital
• The Chartered Institute of Housing warned that the new cap would hit more than 16,000 families across Britain reducing their income by up to £115 a week and affecting more than 300,000 children
• Changes to the operation of the welfare cap were set out in an autumn update to the Charter for Budget Responsibility published in January 2017
There is now a limit on the total amount of benefit that most people aged 16 to 64 can get. This is called the Benefit Cap. It came into force in 2013 and reduced benefit caps were phased in from November 2016 until the end of January 2017. These apply to the total amount that the people in a household get.