How many working people are being forced onto Housing Benefit?

Further to today’s rightsnet news story Government goal of reducing the housing benefit bill is at risk from soaring housing market, warns National Housing Federation, Full Fact has written a short piece asking whether the NHF statistics are accurate.

They finish by noting that (my emphasis): ‘In employment’ Housing Benefit claimants currently account for around 18% of the total Housing Benefit caseload, whereas back in 2009 they made up 11% of the total. So on this measure we can certainly derive an upwards trend both in the proportion and number of claimants who are definitely in work.

Given that this excludes passported claimants of Housing Benefit who may be in some sort of work these figures are likely, if anything, to be an underestimate of the true number of claimants who are doing some sort of work.

For the whole article, see How many working people are being forced onto Housing Benefit?

Also, the 18% figure seems to have been based on claimants of all ages, unless I have misread the article.  Anyone know what the in-work percentage is of claims made by those of working age?

In a word, no. From reading various Full Fact blogs, I think the DWP either do not, or cannot, collect data in a way to identify that particular group. The 18% in employment are distinct from 21% claiming HB with Pension Credit, but that still doesn’t account for older people who are still working as a separate entity, or vice versa.