Today, the Department for Work and Pensions has released the
latest experimental statistics on how many households have had
their benefits capped between 15 April 2013 and August 2021.
- 180,000 households had their benefits capped at August 2021,
compared to 79,000 at February 2020
- This quarter's figure (180,000) represents a decrease of 2%
on the last quarter (190,000)
- Households had their benefits capped by an average of £54 a
week, at August 2021, or £234 per month
Jon Sparkes, chief executive at Crisis, said:
“These figures once again confirm the difficulties being faced by
thousands up and down the country because of the economic
pressures of the pandemic. Since the time of this data, we’ve
seen the cost of living and renting rapidly rising, putting
people under more financial strain, and edging them even closer
to homelessness.
“We cannot leave thousands of people facing impossible decisions
this Christmas – forced to pick between keeping a roof over their
head, putting the heating on as temperatures plummet or keeping
food on the table. To make sure even more people are not left
stuck like this, the Government must not only invest in housing
benefit to ensure that it keeps pace with the real cost of
renting but introduce exemptions from the benefit cap for people
who are forced to sleep rough, so they can afford to find
somewhere safe and secure to live."
-Ends-
Notes to editor
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-cap-number-of-households-capped-to-august-2021
