Benefit cap: number of households capped to February 2026

Requirements

Universal Credit figures for the latest two years are revised to capture retrospective changes that may occur to UC claims. This is in line with our revisions methodology and means that historic figures published in this release may differ from already published figures. The level of revision between previously published figures and the revised series varies across time periods, by geographical area and by other available breakdowns. However, more recent periods tend to be subject to a greater degree of revision than more historic ones. The benefit cap is a limit on the total amount of benefit that most working age people can get and affects a number of benefits. The amount of benefit a household receives is reduced to ensure claimants do not receive more than the cap limit. The benefit cap can be applied through either: Universal Credit ( UC ) Housing Benefit ( HB ) The benefit cap was introduced in April 2013 and was initially applied to HB for working-age households. It also started