Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit caseload
The latest national statistics on Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit caseload produced by the Department for Work and Pensions were released on 20 February 2013 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority.
Statistics are based on Housing Benefit (HB) and Council Tax Benefit (CTB) recipients in Great Britain at November 2008 to November 2012.
For Housing Benefit recipients, in addition to the published tables, data is also being made available via Stat-Xplore, DWP's new interactive visualisation software (see links below).
The key points from the latest release are:
At November 2012:
- The total number of people receiving Housing Benefit was 5.05 million, with 5.90 million claiming Council Tax Benefit.
- 3.76 million Housing Benefit recipients were aged under 65, representing almost three quarters of all Housing Benefit recipients.
- 67 per cent of Housing Benefit recipients were tenants of Social Sector landlords.
- Almost two thirds of both Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit recipients are in receipt of a Passported Benefit.
- The overall average Housing Benefit award is £89.27 per week, and for Council Tax Benefit recipients, the overall average award was £15.68 per week.
- 3.97 million Housing Benefit recipients were single, with 64% of these being female. Of the 1.78 million recipients with at least one child dependent, 1.20 million of these were single.
To access the latest release in full click here 
Stat-Xplore: Housing Benefit caseload by Local Authority
Stat-Xplore: Housing Benefit caseload by Parliamentary Constituency
Additional tables are available here 
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit caseload by Parliamentary Constituency for January 2011. (note: more up to date HB breakdowns can be accessed via Stat-Xplore)
Historical releases and further information on the statistics is available here.
The local authority breakdown contained in the release of these National Statistics is based on the local authority in which the HB / CTB claim is administered.
Information may shortly become available on the geographical areas (including local authority) in which the HB / CTB recipient actually lives. This paper describes the differences between the two local authority breakdowns. Users have now been consulted on how local authority breakdowns should be presented in the future. The outcome of the consultation will be published as soon as a decision is finalised.
Coverage: Great Britain
Geographic Breakdown: Local Authority
Next Release Date: 15 May 2013
The Housing Benefit/ Council Tax Benefit series will now be published on a quarterly basis, showing monthly figures. Each quarterly release will contain three sets of the standard tables, one for each relevant month. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Flows will continue to be published quarterly, using the existing timetable.
Council Tax Benefit will be abolished in April 2013 and replaced by a system of localised support. In England, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) will be responsible for statistics. The Scottish and Welsh Governments with have similar responsibility. See: http://www.communities.gov.uk/localgovernment/localgovernmentfinance/counciltax/counciltaxsupport/.
This summary will cease to report Council Tax Benefit in May 2013, ending with the February 2013 numbers (for technical reasons, March 2013 numbers are not possible). The Housing Benefit series will continue.
To assist with the development of local schemes which will be introduced after the abolishment of Council Tax Benefit on 31 March 2013, statistics showing the breakdown of CTB recipients, by passported status and relevant passporting benefit, by age (aged under 60 and aged 60 and over) and Local Authority Area, at April 2012, have been released. The statistics can be found on the Ad Hoc Analysis page available here.
The latest experimental official statistics on Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit flows produced by the Department for Work and Pensions were released on 20 February 2013 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority
Statistics are based on Housing Benefit (HB) and Council Tax Benefit (CTB) recipients in Great Britain at November 2008 to November 2012.
Experimental Flows tables are available here
Click here for a Guide to using Experimental Statistics
Coverage: Great Britain
Geographic Breakdown: Local Authority
Next Release Date: 15 May 2013
