Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on the number of universal credit claims in the private rented sector with housing entitlement (a) where Local Housing Allowance does not cover rent and and (b) which are subject to deductions for (i) universal credit advances, (ii) universal credit overpayments and (iii) tax credit overpayments for the most recent period for which figures are available.

a) The information on Local Housing Allowance relative to rent is published and available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk. Guidance for users is available at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html

b) In February 2021 for those claims in the private rented sector with housing entitlement there were:

i) 488,000 claims with a Universal Credit Advance Deduction

ii) 99,000 claims with a Universal Credit Overpayment Deduction

iii) 179,000 claims with a Tax Credit Overpayment Deduction

Notes:

1) Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000.

2) The Universal Credit Overpayments and Tax Credit Overpayments figures do not include deductions due to fraud.

3) Figures are only available up to February 2021 to correspond with the latest UC Official Statistics.