How Much Housing Benefit is Paid Out?

During the last year we paid out £428m in Housing Benefit to public and private sector tenants. We pay Housing Benefit to 130,000 claimants (67,000 in Housing Executive tenancies, 63,000 in private sector tenancies).

Cutting out fraud is high on our agenda and we are working hard to detect and prosecute for fraud when it occurs. During the year, we referred 438 cases to the Benefit Investigation Service of the Social Security Agency.

In 2007, we undertook major work to prepare for the implementation of Local Housing Allowance, which is a new Housing Benefit scheme for tenants who rent accommodation from private landlords.

Work relating to rates reform continued during the year; we prepared to introduce Lone Pensioner Allowance, which helps pensioners aged 70 or over pay their rates.

During the year we started to introduce the allpay payment card which enables customers to repay overpayments at retail outlets, online or by direct debit. Enhancements were also made to the Housing Benefit system to improve the administration of Housing Benefit.