What is the benefit cap?

For people receiving certain benefits who are not exempt from the cap.

Applies to: England, Scotland, Wales Last checked against official sources: 6 October 2026

The benefit cap limits the total benefits some people can get. Outside Greater London:

Couples or single parents with children living with them: £423.46 a week (£1,835 a month)
Single adults: £283.71 a week (£1,229.42 a month)

Inside Greater London it's £486.98 a week for couples and single parents, and £326.29 for single adults.

Different in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland

Rules may be different in:

Northern Ireland: Check nidirect for Northern Ireland

Key facts

£423.46 a week (couples outside London)
£283.71 (single outside London)
Higher in London

Benefit cap levels for 2026/27

The cap did not change in April 2026.

Household	Greater London (per year)	Rest of Great Britain (per year)
Couples, or single parents whose children live with them	£25,323	£22,020
Single adults with no children living with them	£16,967	£14,753

Household	Greater London (per month)	Rest of Great Britain (per month)
Couples, or single parents whose children live with them	£2,110.25	£1,835.00
Single adults with no children living with them	£1,413.92	£1,229.42

Which benefits count towards the cap

The cap applies to the total of these benefits: Universal Credit, Bereavement Allowance, Child Benefit, Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Incapacity Benefit, Jobseeker's Allowance, Maternity Allowance, Severe Disablement Allowance and Widowed Parent's Allowance.

Who is exempt

You are usually not affected if you, your partner or a child you are responsible for gets a disability or carer benefit such as:

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Disability Living Allowance
Adult Disability Payment, Child Disability Payment or Pension Age Disability Payment (Scotland)
Attendance Allowance
Carer's Allowance, Carer Support Payment, or the carer amount in Universal Credit
Universal Credit including the amount for limited capability for work and work-related activity
Employment and Support Allowance with the support component
Industrial Injuries benefits or a war pension

You are also not affected if you are over State Pension age. If you are in a couple and one of you is under State Pension age, the cap may still apply.

Working can lift the cap

If you get Universal Credit and you (or you and your partner together) earn £881 or more a month after tax and National Insurance, the cap does not apply. If you are affected, the cap might not start for 9 months, depending on your earnings before.

How it is applied

If your total benefits are above the cap, the amount over the cap is taken off your Universal Credit or Housing Benefit. If you are capped, your council may be able to help with rent through a Discretionary Housing Payment.

Related guides

Where these figures come from

All rates are from the Department for Work and Pensions' official Benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027. Rates usually change every April. The rules on who is affected are from GOV.UK's Benefit cap and When you're not affected pages.

Get it done

This takes you to the official service, which is free to use.

Check if you're exempt

Common questions

Couple not living together?

You'll get the single person amounts.

Source: Benefit cap amounts

Checked against GOV.UK on 6 October 2026

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