The Department for Work and Pensions has insisted it is on track to achieve its planned bedroom tax savings – despite official figures this week appearing to show fewer claimants than expected have been hit by the penalty.
The DWP estimated that 660,000 claimants will be affected by the policy, saving £465 million a year.
However, figures published on Wednesday showed 522,905 people across Britain have had an average reduction of £14 a week, suggesting annual savings of around £393 million.
A spokesperson for the DWP said the lower number is because claimants paid partial housing benefit, who would lose all their housing benefit due to the tax, are not counted as benefit claimants in the statistics.
The figures show the north west has been the region hardest hit, with 82,944 people affected.
Whatever the perceived saving – with an increase in food banks and poverty – is this really something to be proud of?
Meanwhile Inside housing also reported this week that he number of housing benefit claimants who are in work has now broken the 1 million barrier.
Official Department for Work and Pensions statistics published on Wednesday show that 1,013,822 people in employment were claiming housing benefit in August. This is an increase from 998,303 in June.
Working housing benefit claimants now represent more than one in five of the 5,042,973 housing benefit claimants in total in August, this compares with just one in 10 in November 2008.
Two-thirds of housing benefit claimants were social housing tenants, according to the DWP, while almost two-thirds were also in receipt of income support, jobseeker’s allowance, employment and support allowance or pension credit.
The average weekly amount of housing benefit was £90.