Information and figures on welfare reform, discretionary housing payments and council tax support claims.
Social sector size criteria
This came into effect on 1 April 2013.
Residents considered to be under-occupying their home by one bedroom have a 14% deduction in the rent we use to work out their housing benefit.
Residents considered to be under-occupying their home by two or more bedrooms have a 25% deduction in the rent we use to work out their housing benefit.
| Number of cases affected in Rushmoor | Under occupying by one bedroom (14% deduction) | Under occupying by two or more bedrooms (25% deduction) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2020 | 233 | 201 | 32 |
| April 2021 | 213 | 182 | 31 |
| April 2022 | 197 | 169 | 28 |
| April 2023 | 176 | 149 | 27 |
| April 2024 | 164 | 139 | 25 |
| April 2025 | 113 | 93 | 20 |
In some cases, we have used discretionary housing payments to support residents affected by the changes - see the information below on discretionary housing payments for more details.
Benefit cap
The benefit cap came into effect on 15 July 2013 and applies nationally.
| Number of cases affected in Rushmoor | |
|---|---|
| April 2020 | 57 |
| April 2021 | 37 |
| April 2022 | 23 |
| April 2023 | 21 |
| April 2023 | 8 |
| April 2025 | 2 |
As with the social sector criteria, in some cases, we have used discretionary housing payments to support residents affected by the change.
Discretionary housing payments (DHP)
| Total discretionary housing payment allocation | Total discretionary housing payment allocated/paid | |
|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | £160,572 | £160,572.00 |
| 2023/24 | £160,572 | £160,571.99 |
| 2022/23 | £160,572 | £160,248.07 |
| 2021/22 | £226,555 | £226,303.35 |
| 2020/21 | £292,051 | £291,985.13 |
| Type of discretionary housing payment | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of DHP applications | Approved | 412 | 379 | 431 | 411 | 359 |
| Refused | 94 | 119 | 125 | 109 | 60 | |
| Reason for DHP | Benefit cap | 6 | 29 | 22 | 38 | 29 |
| Social sector size criteria | 151 | 89 | 112 | 121 | 75 | |
| Local housing allowance reform | 75 | 100 | 90 | 95 | 37 | |
| Not related (including Universal Credit) | 180 | 161 | 207 | 156 | 218 | |
| Average spend | £390 | £424 | £372 | £551 | £813 | |
For more information on discretionary housing payments, see our Types of benefit available page.
We aim to refresh this data annually.
If you would like more information, please contact our Freedom of Information team using the contact details on this page.
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