London households affected by the benefit cap (2014-2025 Q1)
Last updated: June 2025
Next estimated update: September 2025
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the number of households in London who are affected by the benefit cap, and how much income they are missing out on because of the cap.
The benefit cap limits the amount of money that most working-age people can receive from benefits. In Greater London the limit is £25,323 per year or £16,697 for single adults with no children. This was reduced in November 2016, and recently increased in April 2023. The benefit cap is applied by either reducing Universal Credit or Housing Benefit (for those not claiming Universal Credit).
What does it tell us?
Approximately 38,000 households in London had their income reduced by the benefit cap in February 2025. This has increased by nearly 50% since before the pandemic (February 2020). However, the number of households affected by the benefit cap is lower now than the peak of 54,000 households during the pandemic (February 2021).
The data refers to the month of February for each year spanning 2014 to 2025, and includes caps to Housing Benefit until 2016 and Housing Benefit and out-of-work Universal Credit combined, from 2017 onwards. The data disaggregated by type of benefit and region (London, rest of England) can be found in the CSV download.
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