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PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing (18 April 2019)

Question Asked

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much revenue the removal of the spare room subsidy has generated for the public purse since its introduction.

Asked by:
Anna Turley (Labour)

Answer

The removal of the spare room subsidy (RSRS) policy has not generated revenue for the public purse. However, this policy has saved over £1.7bn since its introduction in April 2013. A breakdown by financial year is provided in the table below:

Total Estimated Housing Benefit RSRS Deductions, 2013/14 to 2017/18 (£m pa)

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

385

365

355

335

320

Deductions figures do not take into account any additional savings due to behavioural change before/after the policy has been introduced, for example moving to a smaller property to avoid a deduction.

Figures do not include claimants on Universal Credit (UC) with a removal of the spare room subsidy (RSRS) deduction, as these data are not currently available.


Answered by:
Will Quince (Conservative)
25 April 2019

Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.