ESA to UC managed migration underway with completion brought forward to 2026

People claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) have already started to move onto Universal Credit, and the Chancellor confirmed the Department for Work and Pensions plan to complete the move of ESA claimants to UC by 2026, instead of 2028 as previously planned¹. The confirmation came in the Autumn Budget, announced on 30 October 2024, and was set out in a written statement published the same day¹.

Trials involving ESA claimants, and claimants receiving ESA alongside Housing Benefit, took place over the months before the announcement, which the DWP says will guide its migration procedures¹. Separately, Tax Credit claimants who have appointees started to receive their migration notice letters from October 2024; until then this group had been deferred¹.

The move sits alongside other benefit changes confirmed in the Budget, most of which take effect from April 2025 unless stated otherwise¹.

The government also said it would maintain the Triple Lock for the duration of this parliament¹. On the High Income Child Benefit Charge, the Chancellor announced she would not pursue the planned reform to a household basis, and the system will stay as it is now; it will be easier to pay the charge, with employees able to pay it through their tax code and self-assessment returns pre-populated with Child Benefit data from next year¹. There were no planned changes to Winter Fuel Payment eligibility¹.

The administration of Pension Credit and Housing Benefit will be brought together for new claimants from 2026, two years earlier than previously announced¹. A further £1 billion will be made available to local authorities for the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments for 2025/26¹. The government will amend the Severe Disability Premium transitional protection regulations to support claimants moving from supported or temporary accommodation into rented housing; the regulations will be amended from April 2025, with payments backdated to February 2024 possible¹.

Why it matters for households

ESA claimants are the group now being brought into Universal Credit, and the timetable for finishing that move has been pulled forward by two years, to 2026¹. People in this group will receive a migration notice setting out when their legacy benefits end and what they need to do; the process of moving is set out in moving to Universal Credit from legacy benefits, and transitional protection may apply where a UC award is lower than the benefits it replaces.

For private renters, the freeze to Local Housing Allowance rates from April 2025 means housing support does not rise with rents or inflation, and the benefit cap stays at its current level¹. The same applies to households whose UC is reduced by debt deductions, though the maximum deduction rate falls from 25% to 15% of the standard allowance¹. Carers who work can earn up to £196 a week from April 2025 and still receive Carer's Allowance, up from £151¹. Working-age benefits rise by 1.7% and pension-age benefits by 4.1%¹.

What happens next

ESA migration continues through 2025 and 2026, with completion targeted for 2026¹. The April 2025 uprating, the LHA and benefit cap freezes, the Carer's Allowance earnings limit and the amended SDP transitional protection regulations all take effect from April 2025, with SDP payments potentially backdated to February 2024¹. The merged administration of Pension Credit and Housing Benefit for new claimants begins in 2026¹. The £1 billion for the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments covers 2025/26¹.