1 million people claim HB due to low income

Housing benefit statistics, published by the Department for Work and Pensions on 14 August, showed 987,607 people in work were claiming housing benefit in May.

This is now nearly a fifth – 19.4 per cent – of the total 5,072,264 claiming housing benefit.

The percentage of claimants in work has increased from 17.9 per cent in May 2012, and 13.7 per cent in May 2010.

The number of employed claimants has increased by 337,056 since 2010, more than the 320,738 increase in the total number of claimants.

This increase has been driven by more private rented sector tenants in work claiming.

Sam Lister, policy and practice officer at the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: ‘Increasingly now the cost of living is driving more people to claim.’

He added that employed private renters have historically not claimed in large numbers, but now more are either finding they have to claim or are more aware that they are able to claim.

A total of 1.4 million private tenants were claiming housing benefit in May this year, an increase of around 70,000 compared with the previous year.

Private renters in work claiming housing benefit in Britain now number 473,855 – an increase of more than 50,000 in a year and of more than 200,000 since May 2010.

A spokesperson for the DWP said part of the increase in workers claiming is due to unemployed people finding employment but claiming partial housing benefit.