Key Points

In Northern Ireland at February 2024:

  • 660 households had their benefits capped. This is a decrease of 30% from 940 at February 2023.
  • 520 households had their Universal Credit award capped, and 140 households had their Housing Benefit award capped. These represent less than 1% of UC households and less than 1% of working-age HB households respectively.
  • The average amount capped was £49 per week.
  • 700 individuals had their Benefit Cap reduction mitigated via a Welfare Supplementary payment (WSP). Of these, 550 (80%) were UC Benefit Cap administrative WSPs.

Introduction

The Benefit Cap was introduced in Northern Ireland on 31st May 2016, and is a limit on the total amount of benefit that working age people can receive*. The Benefit Cap can be applied through Housing Benefit (HB) or Universal Credit (UC). More information on Universal Credit in Northern Ireland is available on the Northern Ireland Universal Credit statistics website.

This publication contains official statistics undergoing development on the number of capped households in Northern Ireland since the introduction of the Benefit Cap. It provides a range of household breakdowns including the amount capped, number of children, family type and geographical area.

The publication also contains statistics on the number of individuals receiving a Benefit Cap Welfare Supplementary Payment.

Data accompanying this publication

Supplementary tables (Open Document Spreadsheet) accompanying this publication are available on the Northern Ireland Benefit Cap statistics website.

Publication charts

Capped Households

When the Benefit Cap was first introduced in Northern Ireland on 31 May 2016, the amount a household could receive in benefit income was limited to £26,000 per annum for couples and households with children, and £18,200 per annum for single people without children. On 7 November 2016, this threshold was lowered to £20,000 per annum and £13,400 per annum respectively. As of 1st April 2023, the threshold increased to £22,020 per annum and £14,753 per annum respectively.

Universal Credit was rolled out in Northern Ireland by December 2018, replacing six legacy benefits including Housing Benefit. June 2020 was the first month the number of capped households under UC outnumbered the number of capped households under HB.

The number of capped households rose between November 2016 and April 2017. After this time, there was a general decline in the number of capped households, which continued until February 2020. From March 2020 the number of capped households increased notably in parallel with the overall increase in the UC caseload due to the COVID-19 pandemic before dropping from August 2021.

The number of capped households has continued to decline since August 2021, and 660 households had their benefits capped at February 2024, a decrease of 30% from 940 at February 2023.

Figure 1: Households on the Benefit Cap at February 2024

Of the 660 households capped at February 2024, 520 were UC capped households and and 140 were HB capped households.

Figure 2: Households capped via Universal Credit or Housing Benefit at February 2024

Family Composition

At February 2024, 560 (85%) of the total capped households were single parent households, whilst 100 (15%) were couples with children.

Figure 3: Family composition of capped households at February 2024

Figure 3 is based on the totals of capped households who are Single Parent, Couples with children and Single without children at February 2024. Figures for Single without children are typically small and may therefore not be visible, but can be viewed in the corresponding download tables and Supplementary Table 5.

At February 2024, 600 (92%) of capped households had 3 or more children.

Figure 4: Capped households by number of children at February 2024

Geography

The largest number of capped households are found in the Belfast Local Government District, with 190 households at February 2024, representing 29% of capped households at that time.

Figure 5: Capped households by Local Government District at February 2024

Figure 5 is based on the totals of those capped through both HB and UC. Breakdowns for months prior to February 2024 at Local Government District (LGD) and Assembly Area (AA) levels are available in Supplementary Table 6 and Table 7 respectively.

Average Weekly Cap amount

Unlike legacy benefits, UC is assessed and paid monthly and it is calculated based on household circumstances. The Benefit Cap is applied to the full UC award and not only to housing costs. For these statistics, a weekly cap equivalent has been calculated for UC households.

The average weekly impact of the Benefit Cap in Northern Ireland during February 2024 was a reduction of £49 per week. 420 (64%) of all capped households at February 2024 were capped by £50 or less per week. 100 (15%) of all capped households at February 2024 were capped by more than £100 per week.

Figure 6: Capped households by weekly cap amount at February 2024

Mitigation of the Benefit Cap

As of February 2022, changes to the Welfare Supplementary Payment Mitigation Scheme meant all families with children, who have their benefit capped, are eligible for a Welfare Supplementary Payment (WSP) equivalent to the loss of benefit. There was a corresponding spike in the number of Benefit Cap WSP payments at March 2022 following this change.

In February 2024, 700 individuals received a Benefit Cap Welfare Supplementary Payment. Of these, 550 (80%) were UC Benefit Cap Administrative WSPs.

The difference between the number of households capped and the number of individuals receiving a Benefit Cap Welfare Supplementary Payment in a month is due to the nature of the administrative data. The Benefit Cap data is at household level, and the mitigation data is at an individual level, so they are not comparable. Furthermore, Administrative Welfare Supplementary Payments are paid every four weeks in arrears from the date of the first Benefit Cap deduction from UC, but UC is paid either once or twice a month (based on claimant choice).



Figure 7: Benefit Cap Welfare Supplementary Payments at February 2024

Not all claimants that are impacted by the Benefit Cap are mitigated. There could be a number of reasons for this including:

  • Claimant was not in receipt of a qualifying benefit during the relevant period (from 6th November 2016 when the current Benefit Cap was introduced).
  • Claimant was previously in receipt of a Benefit Cap mitigation, but a change of circumstances moved them off the cap, and ended their mitigation payment. A further change of circumstances moved them back onto the Benefit Cap, but they are not mitigated as it is the second time that they have been capped.

Notes

Rounding

Figures contained within this publication have been rounded to the nearest ten and the nearest whole percent unless otherwise stated. Percentages and totals shown are calculated using unrounded figures before rounding. Some totals therefore may not sum due to rounding.

Background Information

The Benefit Cap was introduced in Northern Ireland on 31st May 2016 with a £26,000 per annum threshold for couples and households with children, and £18,200 per annum for single people without children. In November 2016 these thresholds were lowered to £20,000 per annum, and £13,400 per annum respectively.As of 1st April 2023, the threshold increased to £22,020 per annum and £14,753 per annum respectively.

As of April 2023, the Benefit Cap limits a working-age household's benefit income to:

  • £423.46 a week for couples (with or without children living with them) and single parents whose children live with them;
  • £283.71 a week for single adults without children, or whose children do not live with them.

The cap applies to the combined income from benefits, including:

  • Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support and Employment and Support Allowance (except when the Support Component is in payment);
  • Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit;
  • Housing Benefit;
  • Universal Credit; and
  • Other benefits such as Incapacity Benefit and Bereavement support Payment.

These reductions ensure that a households total benefits no longer add up to more than the cap level.

Exemptions

There are a number of benefits which are exempt households from having their total amount of benefit limited in this way. You are not affected by the Benefit Cap if you or your partner are in work or in receipt of an exempt benefit. Exemptions from the cap include:

  • Carer's Allowance;
  • Disability Living Allowance or its replacement Personal Independence Payment;
  • Employment and Support Allowance (Support Component);
  • Working Tax Credit;
  • Other benefits such as Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments; and
  • Exemptions such as DLA/PIP also apply if received by other members of the household.

Mitigation of the Benefit Cap

As agreed by the NI Executive the Department for Communities currently delivers Welfare Supplementary Payments to mitigate the effects of the Benefit Cap. The Assembly has recently approved an extension of these mitigation payments until 31 March 2025.

During the period covered by this report not all claimants that were impacted by the Benefit Cap were mitigated. There could be a number of reasons for this including:

  • Claimant was not in receipt of a qualifying benefit during the relevant period (from 6th November 2016 when the current Benefit Cap was introduced).
  • Claimant was previously in receipt of a Benefit Cap mitigation, but a change of circumstances moved them off the cap, and ended their mitigation payment. A further change of circumstances moved them back onto the Benefit Cap, but they are not mitigated as it is the second time that they have been capped.

From 10 February 2022, changes to the mitigation scheme means that in future all families with children who have their benefit capped will be eligible for a Welfare Supplementary Payment equivalent to the loss of benefit.

The difference between the number of households capped and the number of individuals receiving a Benefit Cap Welfare Supplementary Payment in a month is due to the nature of the administrative data. The Benefit Cap data is at household level, and the mitigations data is at an individual level, so they are not comparable. Furthermore, Administrative Welfare Supplementary Payments are paid every four weeks in arrears from the date of the first Benefit Cap deduction from UC, but UC is paid either once or twice a month (based on claimant choice).

Geography

A change in methodology has allowed geographies to be assigned to a number of cases which were previously missing. Figures in the associated supplementary table have been changed retrospectively.

Impact of the Coronavirus

There has been no change to the Benefit Cap policy in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contact Information

Data Quality and Methodology

The two main sources of Benefit Cap data published here are the NIHE Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE) and the Universal Credit Full Service System (UCFS) which are used to get data on households capped through HB and UC respectively. The Benefit Cap had primarily been administered through a reduction in Housing Benefit (HB). However, administration of the Benefit Cap is now more common through a reduction of Universal Credit (UC) payments as numbers in the report will support.

Since the Universal Credit Full Service system (UCFS) is a live system, the UC figures and the combined HB and UC figures contained within the publication and supplementary tables are subject to scheduled revisions. This is to account for retrospective actions on the UCFS system. These revisions are performed in accordance with T3.9 of the UK Statistics Authority Code of Practice for Statistics.

Official statistics in development

These statistics are official staistics that are in development, previously known as 'Experimental Statistics'. They have been compiled using data from records of Universal Credit benefit claims held by the Department for Communities.

The methodology used and definitions of the statistics may be updated within subsequent releases, along with information on the impact of any changes to the time series already released. These statistics have been developed using guidelines set out by the UK Statistics Authority, and are new official statistics undergoing evaluation. Further information is available on the OSR website.

The August 2020 publication underwent a streamlining exercise as feedback suggested too much data was presented and this detracted from the key statistics. It now reports on one measure, Point-in-time caseload, which counts the number of capped households each month.