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 16 May 2012 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 February 2012.
The key points from the latest release are:
At February 2012:
- The total number of people receiving Housing Benefit was just over 5 million, with 5.92 million claiming Council Tax Benefit.
- 3.72 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.
- Around 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 £86.77 per week, and for Council Tax Benefit recipients, the overall average award was £15.69 per week.
- 3.95 million Housing Benefit recipients were single, with almost two-thirds of these being female. Of the 1.73 million recipients with at least one child dependent, 1.17 million of these were single.
- Westminster Parliamentary Constituency breakdowns of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit caseloads as at January 2011 are available below.
To access the latest release in full click here 
Additional tables are available here 
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit caseload by Parliamentary Constituency.
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: 20 June 2012
The latest experimental official statistics on Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit flows produced by the Department for Work and Pensions were released on 16 May 2012 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 February 2012.
Experimental Flows tables are available here (501Kb)
Click here for a Guide to using Experimental Statistics
Coverage: Great Britain
Geographic Breakdown: Local Authority
Next Release Date: 15 August 2012
