Benefit cap: number of households capped to May 2025

Requirements

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 to be applied to UC in April 2016. The majority of claims are now capped in UC , however, a small number of the working age population may still apply for HB . For more information, see who can get HB and completing the move to UC . It is important to interpret the statistics provided on the Benefit Cap in the context of Benefit Cap levels and annual uprating of benefits . For the history of Benefit Cap levels refer to our background information and methodology document . Benefit cap statistics are presented on a point in time basis for