The Housing Benefit (Earned Income Disregards) (Amendment) Regulations 2026
These Regulations amend the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 to increase the amount of earned income ignored during the financial assessment for claimants living in specified or temporary accommodation.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions establishes five distinct disregard rates based on the claimant’s age and relationship status, ranging from £61.41 to £119.70 per week.
These changes apply to working-age claimants in England, Wales, and Scotland, directing local authorities to apply these new calculations when determining eligibility and benefit amounts for employed and self-employed earners.
Arguments For
The Explanatory Note states that the regulations extend the sums to be disregarded when calculating the earnings of a person claiming housing benefit.
The document indicates that the Secretary of State consulted with organizations appearing to be representative of the authorities concerned.
According to the Explanatory Note, the amendments focus specifically on working-age housing benefit claimants who reside in specified or temporary accommodation.
The Social Security Advisory Committee agreed that the proposals did not need to be referred to it, suggesting a determination that the technical changes are appropriate under existing frameworks.
Arguments Against
The use of age-based tiers for disregards could be questioned by legal scholars or advocacy groups regarding the rationale for providing different levels of financial support to single claimants under 25 versus those over 25.
Local Government associations might raise concerns regarding the administrative complexity of assessing specific residency types—namely 'specified' or 'temporary' accommodation—against new age-bracketed disregard amounts.
Critics might note that the regulations exclude claimants who have reached the qualifying age for state pension credit, creating a divergence in how earnings are treated between working-age and pension-age housing benefit systems.
The decision not to produce a full impact assessment, based on the determination that no significant impact on private or voluntary sectors is foreseen, could be challenged if the regulations significantly alter the financial viability of supported housing providers.
Citation, commencement and extent
- -(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Housing Benefit (Earned Income Disregards) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 and come into force on 5th October 2026.
- (2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales and Scotland.
This section establishes the official name of the statutory instrument and sets the date it becomes law as 5th October 2026.
It specifies that the legal authority of these regulations applies throughout Great Britain, covering England, Wales, and Scotland.
Amendments to the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006
- -(1) The Housing Benefit Regulations 2006( 4 ) are amended as follows.
(2) In regulation 36 (calculation of net earnings of employed earners), in paragraph (2), after 'paragraphs 1 to 14', insert 'and 18'.
(3) In regulation 38 (calculation of net profit of self-employed earners), in paragraph (2), after 'paragraphs 1 to 14', insert 'and 18'.
(4) In Schedule 4 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of earnings), after paragraph 17 insert-
' 18. -(1) In the case of a claimant who is engaged in remunerative work as an employed earner or a self-employed earner, who is resident in specified accommodation or temporary accommodation and who is-
- (a) a single claimant who has not attained the age of 25 years, £61.41;
- (b) a single claimant who has attained the age of 25 years, £77.73;
- (c) a member of a couple, where both members of the couple have not attained the age of 18 years, £97.33;
- (d) a member of a couple, where both members of the couple have not attained the age of 25 years, £61.53;
- (e) a member of a couple, where at least one member of the couple has attained the age of 25 years, £119.70.
(2) In this paragraph-
'specified accommodation' has the meaning given in paragraph 3A of Schedule 1 to the Universal Credit Regulations 2013( 5 );
'temporary accommodation' has the meaning given in paragraph 3B of Schedule 1 to the Universal Credit Regulations 2013( 6 ).'.
This section modifies the 2006 Regulations to ensure that both employed and self-employed claimants benefit from new income disregards.
It inserts a new paragraph 18 into Schedule 4, defining specific weekly amounts of earnings that are not counted when calculating a claimant's housing benefit.
The amounts are tiered by age and household composition for those living in 'specified accommodation' (typically supported housing) or 'temporary accommodation' (housing provided to meet homelessness duties).
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