Housing Benefit (HB) and Council Tax Support (CTS)
Table 5.1:
| Caseloads | Sep 2019 | Sep 2020 | Sep 2021 | Sep 2022 | Annual Change 2022-2021 |
| Total CTS Claimants** | 63,200 | 67,029 | 65,137 | 63,332 | -1,805 |
| Total HB Claimants | 48,095 | 41,259 | 36,824 | 33,224 | -3,600 |
| Total combined caseload for HB&CTS*** | 68,171 | 70,818 | 68,991 | 66,586 | -2,405 |
| Expenditure | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | Annual Change 2021/22 -2020/21 |
| CTS claimed | £49.1m | £50.1m | £55.6m | £55.4m | -£133,544 |
| HB claimed | £246.2m | £207.5m | £189.6m | £175.5m | -£14.1m |
| Source: LCC Welfare Benefits, Jan 2023 | |||||
| ** An ongoing decrease in CTS Cases was reversed by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic when job losses, furlough and decreased working hours caused many people to claim CTS. | |||||
| *** Where a customer receives both HB & CTS, this will count as one claim (to avoid double counting). Similarly if a claim has only HB, it is counted as one claim, or if a claim is receiving CTS only, this would count as one claim | |||||
63,332 households claimed Council Tax Support (CTS) in Sep 2022. The number of claims for CTS decreased by 1,805 in the last year. 33,224 households claimed Housing Benefit (HB) in Sep 2022. The number of HB claims fell by 3,600 in the year from Sep 2021 to Sep 2022. Combined in 2022, there were 66,586 households in Leeds requiring at least one local authority benefit.
The caseloads for CTS in Sep 2022 resulted in expenditure for Sept 2021/22 of £55.4m across Leeds. The caseloads for HB in Sep 2022 resulted in expenditure for Sept 2021/22 of £175.5m across Leeds. This figure fell by £14.1m in the last 12 months.
HB Case numbers continue to decrease due to the “Natural Migration” to Universal Credit for Working Age HB Claims.
Welfare Reform Impacts on Housing Benefits
Table 5.2:
| Housing Benefit | Sep-21 | Sep-22 | Annual Change * |
| No of claims affected by the Benefit Cap | 312 | 163 | -149 |
| Total weekly reduction (due to Benefit Cap) | £14,937.03 | £7,319.04 | -£7,617.99 |
| Source: LCC Welfare Benefits monthly reporting January 2023 | |||
The overall number of households affected in Leeds by the Benefit Cap was 163 in September 2022. The total weekly reduction for claims affected by the Benefit Cap in Leeds was £7,319.04. This means an overall average of £44.90 is being reduced across the 163 households in Leeds.
* The falling numbers of HB claims affected by the cap are not necessarily a decrease in those affected by the Benefit Cap, and can instead be attributed to claims moving from Housing Benefit to Universal Credit. Once the claim for Housing Benefit has ended, the local authority no longer have access to details of how/if these cases are affected by Welfare Reform.
To put this change of numbers in to perspective, in September 2018, the total Housing Benefit caseload was 59,290, but by the most recent caseload count as of September 2022 this has decreased to 33,224.
Welfare Reform Impacts on Council Tax
Table 5.3
| Council Tax | Sep-19 | Sep-18 | Annual Change |
| No of claims affected by the localised council tax support | 12,949 | 19,085 | -6,136 |
| Weekly loss of benefit for claims affected by CTS | £51,063 | £71,161 | -20,098 |
| CT liability of claims prev in receipt of full CTB | £3,852,331 | £3,299,680 | 552,651 |
| Source: LCC Welfare Benefits monthly reporting September 2019 | |||
12,949 households, who would previously have had full council tax support, now have to pay 25% of their council tax. The number of claims to CTS has fallen by 6136 on the previous year.
In total, the 12949 households have effectively lost £51,063 of their weekly benefit. This is an average loss of £3.94 a week to each of these households.
The 12949 households now liable to pay 25% of their council tax bill pay a total of £3.8m. This is an average of £298 owed per year in Council Tax by each of these households.
Universal Credit
Updates to Universal Credit have now moved to the Leeds Cost of Living Dashboard available here