DWP reissues uprating guidance following Budget 2021 announcement that universal credit uplift will continue until September 2021

Revised housing benefit circular sets out new standard allowances to be introduced from April 2021

The DWP has reissued a recent guidance circular following the government's announcement that the universal credit uplift will continue until September 2021.

In Budget 2021, the government confirmed (at paragraph 2.19) that the temporary £20 per week increase to the universal credit standard allowance - introduced in 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic - is to be extended for a further six months in Great Britain on top of the planned April uprating (with the Northern Ireland Executive being funded to match the increase), and that the measure will apply to all new and existing universal credit claimants.

As a result, the DWP has issued a revised version of A1/2021: Housing Benefit uprating: 2021-22 that, at Appendix C - Annex 5, sets out that the new standard monthly allowance -

• for a single person under 25 will increase from £342.72 to £344.00;
• for a single person aged 25 or over will increase from £409.89 to £411.51;
• for a couple both aged under 25 will increase from £488.59 to £490.60; and
• for a couple one or both aged over 25 will increase from £594.04 to £596.58.

A1/2021: Housing Benefit uprating: 2021-22 (revised) is available from gov.uk