The estimated annual cost of housing benefit is now £23.4bn, more than the total running costs of government departments including the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Transport. Only health and social care, education and defence account for larger shares of day-to-day spending.
In the year to May 2022, an estimated 2.6 million households in England received housing benefit with those privately renting accounting for 29 per cent of all claimants, according to statistics published in August by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month
Content from our partners
