Benefits cap

The benefit cap limits the amount of certain benefits you can get if you are under state pension age and you receive Housing Benefit. If affected by the benefit cap, your Housing Benefit could be reduced.

Benefit cap limits depending on your circumstances:

• £384.62 a week for couples (with or without children)
• £384.62 a week for single parents whose children live with them
• £257.69 a week for single adults (with no residing children)

If the total amount of benefits you receive is more than your benefit cap limit, you will not be entitled to any Housing Benefit.

The cap applies to the total amount the people in your household receive from:

• Bereavement Allowance
• Carer’s Allowance
• Child Benefit
• Child Tax Credit
• Employment Support Allowance (unless you get the support component)
• Guardian’s Allowance
• Housing Benefit
• Incapacity Benefit
• Income Support
• Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Maternity Allowance
• Severe Disablement Allowance
• Widowed Parent’s Allowance (or Widowed Mother’s Allowance or Widow’s Pension you started getting before 9 April 2001)

For example:

• if your benefit cap limit is £257.69 per week, and the total amount you receive from the listed benefits is £100 per week, the maximum you will receive is £157.69 per week in Housing Benefit
• if your benefit cap limit is £384.62 per week, and the total amount you receive from the listed benefits is £350 per week, the maximum you will receive is £34.62 per week in Housing Benefit
• if your benefit cap limit is £384.62 per week, and the total amount you receive from the listed benefits is £505 per week, the maximum you will receive is £0.50 per week in Housing Benefit

You will not be affected by the benefit cap if you or your partner work enough hours to qualify for Working Tax Credit, even if your entitlement to Working Tax Credit is nil. You could also be exempt from the benefit cap if you are receiving:

• Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
• Armed Forces Independence Payment
• Attendance Allowance
• Disability Living Allowance
• Employment Support Allowance, if you get the support component
• Industrial Injuries Benefits (and equivalent payments as part of a war disablement pension or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme)
• Personal Independence Payment
• War Pensions
• War Widow’s or War Widower’s Pension

You are also exempt from the benefit cap if you would be entitled to one of these benefits, and you are:

• living in a care home
• a hospital in-patient

We will not apply the benefit cap for the first 39 weeks of your unemployment if:

• you were in paid employment or self-employment (full or part-time) for 50 of the 52 weeks immediately before your last day of work
• during that time you were not entitled to Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment Support Allowance, for one day or more in three or more different weeks

If you are not able to get back into work or self-employment, you may need to:

• apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment
• check if you are entitled to any of the benefits which exempt you from the benefit cap
• make up the shortfall in your rent using other income or savings
• move into cheaper accommodation or negotiate a rent reduction with your landlord

Consider whether your circumstances are likely to change shortly. For example, if your child will soon be treated as a non-dependant, your benefits may go down, which may bring you under the benefit cap limit. If you are expecting a baby, your benefits may go up, which could push you over the benefit cap limit.