New housing element of Pension Credit postponed to 2028

The government's plan to create a housing element within Pension Credit will not take place until 2028, according to an announcement made alongside the Autumn Statement on 16 November 2022. Until then, eligible pensioners will continue to receive Housing Benefit¹.

The delay was one of two migration announcements reported after the statement. The same update said the Department for Work and Pensions had pushed back the managed migration of most of the 1 million people claiming income-related Employment and Support Allowance to Universal Credit until April 2028. That delay applies to people claiming only income-related ESA, or both income-related ESA and Housing Benefit; those also claiming Child Tax Credit will be asked to move before the end of 2024¹.

The Autumn Statement also set out wider changes to benefits and bills, most effective from April 2023. The majority of benefits, including the state pension, the Pension Credit minimum guarantee, Universal Credit and Child Benefit, will be uprated by September 2022's CPI figure of 10.1%. The benefit cap will rise by the same figure, having been unchanged since 2016¹.

Source: entitledto, Autumn Statement update November 2022¹

Cost of living payments were also confirmed: 8 million households on means-tested benefits will receive £900 in more than one instalment, 8 million pensioner households will receive £300, and 6 million people on non-means-tested disability benefits will receive £150. No dates for the payments had been reported¹. The Energy Price Guarantee, which subsidises a typical household's energy bill to £2,500 a year, will rise to £3,000 between April 2023 and March 2024, and continues until March 2024. Households using heating oil, LPG, coal or biomass will receive a £200 payment this winter instead of £100, with all households in Northern Ireland receiving the £200¹.

Why it matters for households

Pensioners who rent and claim Pension Credit will stay on Housing Benefit rather than moving to a housing element paid with Pension Credit, and that remains the position until 2028 on the plan as announced¹. The practical effect is that the existing Housing Benefit claim continues; the change that would have moved this support into Pension Credit has been deferred.

For working age claimants, the income-related ESA migration delay to April 2028 applies to those claiming only income-related ESA, or income-related ESA together with Housing Benefit. Claimants in that group can still claim Universal Credit if they believe they would be better off, but the update notes there is no going back once a Universal Credit claim is made¹.

Other changes affect renters and owners from April 2023. Social rents can rise by a maximum of 7%, with benefits covering the increase unless the household is affected by the benefit cap. Local Housing Allowance, which sets the help private renters receive through Universal Credit or Housing Benefit, will be frozen in April, so it may not cover rent increases; Discretionary Housing Payments from local authorities may cover a shortfall. For homeowners claiming Universal Credit, the Support for Mortgage Interest waiting period falls from 9 months to 3 months, and people in work will be able to claim it¹.

What happens next

The housing element of Pension Credit is not due until 2028, with Housing Benefit continuing until then¹. The income-related ESA migration delay runs to April 2028 for the affected group, while those also on Child Tax Credit are due to move to Universal Credit before the end of 2024¹. The uprating, benefit cap changes, rent measures and Support for Mortgage Interest changes take effect from April 2023, and the Energy Price Guarantee runs to March 2024¹.