How does my area compare?
Birmingham has the highest total spending on Housing Benefit in 2024-25.
Help with rent. Most people who get it now are pensioners or live in supported housing. Shown in 2026-27 prices, adjusted for inflation so that years can be compared.
Total, low to high
- Under £36.5m
- £36.5m to £67.2m
- £67.2m to £97.9m
- £97.9m to £128.6m
- £128.6m to £159.4m
- £159.4m and over
More ways to look at itHow ranks change, why spending changed, and spending compared with the expected level
Total or per person
Does the order change when you count per person?
Each line is one of the 350 ranked local authorities. It joins the area's rank for each way of counting. The 10 highest total are drawn in dark lines.
What changed
More people, more claims or bigger payments?
Great Britain, Housing Benefit: yearly spending at the rate in March 2023 and in March 2026. The chart splits the change into three parts: the number of people in the age group, the share of them claiming, and the average payment. 2026-27 prices.
| March 2023 | £17.4bn |
|---|---|
| Population | +£145.8m |
| Share claiming | −£7.8bn |
| Payment size | +£2.7bn |
| March 2026 | £12.4bn |
Compared with similar areas
Is spending higher or lower than expected?
Benefit spending per resident, 2024-25. We compare it with the level we would expect from each area's share of children and of people aged 66 and over, how deprived it is compared with the rest of its nation, and the typical pay of people who live there. 2026-27 prices.
Every local authority
Spending on Housing Benefit, 2024-25. Rank is for total, and 1 is the highest. Areas with fewer than 1,000 people in the age group have no rank. The first 50 of 350 rows are shown.
| Rank | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham | £669.2m | £566 | |
| 2 | Glasgow City | £291.5m | £448 | |
| 3 | Hackney | £213.3m | £794 | |
| 4 | Liverpool | £203.4m | £400 | |
| 5 | Brent | £199.3m | £561 | |
| 6 | Newham | £198.6m | £523 | |
| 7 | Westminster | £192.9m | £894 | |
| 8 | Lambeth | £190.0m | £596 | |
| 9 | Ealing | £189.8m | £490 | |
| 10 | Lewisham | £189.4m | £626 | |
| 11 | Tower Hamlets | £183.7m | £547 | |
| 12 | Manchester | £180.6m | £307 | |
| 13 | Barnet | £178.1m | £438 | |
| 14 | City of Edinburgh | £176.7m | £332 | |
| 15 | Leeds | £170.9m | £203 | |
| 16 | Enfield | £167.5m | £505 | |
| 17 | Haringey | £160.8m | £599 | |
| 18 | Southwark | £153.7m | £485 | |
| 19 | Croydon | £153.1m | £375 | |
| 20 | Islington | £151.1m | £668 | |
| 21 | Sheffield | £150.0m | £259 | |
| 22 | Camden | £144.4m | £655 | |
| 23 | Wandsworth | £137.2m | £404 | |
| 24 | Bristol, City of | £133.4m | £270 | |
| 25 | Greenwich | £123.4m | £410 | |
| 26 | Cornwall | £122.2m | £210 | |
| 27 | County Durham | £122.0m | £227 | |
| 28 | Kensington and Chelsea | £121.1m | £823 | |
| 29 | Nottingham | £117.5m | £355 | |
| 30 | Brighton and Hove | £115.4m | £405 | |
| 31 | Cardiff | £113.3m | £297 | |
| 32 | Bradford | £112.7m | £201 | |
| 33 | Coventry | £102.9m | £279 | |
| 34 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | £102.6m | £252 | |
| 35 | Hammersmith and Fulham | £100.9m | £529 | |
| 36 | Somerset | £97.5m | £166 | |
| 37 | Salford | £95.4m | £325 | |
| 38 | Waltham Forest | £95.1m | £335 | |
| 39 | Redbridge | £93.2m | £289 | |
| 40 | Wirral | £92.2m | £281 | |
| 41 | Kingston upon Hull, City of | £91.5m | £333 | |
| 42 | North Yorkshire | £90.9m | £143 | |
| 43 | Newcastle upon Tyne | £88.9m | £279 | |
| 44 | Buckinghamshire | £87.0m | £150 | |
| 45 | Hillingdon | £84.7m | £258 | |
| 46 | Leicester | £82.0m | £212 | |
| 47 | Fife | £81.9m | £219 | |
| 48 | Hounslow | £81.6m | £272 | |
| 49 | North Lanarkshire | £80.5m | £234 | |
| 50 | Wakefield | £80.3m | £219 |
Values are total unless a column says otherwise. Sources: Department for Work and Pensions, Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland.
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