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4. Amount of benefit
The amount of universal credit (UC) you get depends on your circumstances and the circumstances of your partner. The amount also depends on your and your partner’s income and capital. Go through the following steps to work out the amount of UC to which you are entitled.
Step 1: capital
If your capital is over £16,000, you cannot get UC. Some kinds of capital are ignored. For details, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers).
Step 2: work out your maximum amount
Your maximum amount is worked out by adding together the monthly amounts of the standard allowance and any other elements for which you are eligible.
Step 3: work out your monthly income
Chapter 15 explains how your loan, grant or other income is taken into account.
Step 4: deduct monthly income from maximum amount
If your income is less than your maximum amount, UC is the difference between the two. If your income is the same as or more than your maximum amount, you cannot get UC.
Your maximum amount
Work out your maximum amount by adding together your standard allowance and any additional elements that apply. For the amounts, see here. The rates are monthly and are from April 2024.
Standard allowance
You get one standard allowance for yourself and any partner that you live with. There are different rates depending on whether you and your partner are under 25, or 25 or over.
Child element
You get one child element for each eligible dependent child who ’normally lives’ with you.1Reg 4(2) UC Regs Each child must be under 16, or aged 16 to 19 and in full-time, non-advanced education or approved training.2Reg 5 UC Regs You can claim for a 16-year-old child until 31 August after their 16th birthday, whether they are in education or not. You can only claim for a child up to 31 August following their 19th birthday, and they must have been under 19 when they were accepted on, enrolled on or started their education or training. You cannot claim for a child who claims UC, income support, jobseeker’s allowance, employment and support allowance (ESA) or tax credits in their own right.
The higher child element is paid if one of your children was born before 6 April 2017.
You can usually only get a child element for a maximum of two children. However, you can get a child element for any child born before 6 April 2017. If you have a third child on or after 6 April 2017 and you get UC, you cannot get a child element for them unless an exception applies (see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers) for what these are).
You get a disabled child element for any child or young person who gets child disability payment, disability living allowance, adult disability payment or personal independence payment, whether you get a child element for them or not. If the child is severely disabled, you get a higher amount.
 
1     Reg 4(2) UC Regs »
2     Reg 5 UC Regs »
Elements for illness
You get an extra amount of UC if you meet the test for ’limited capability for work’ (the work capability assessment) and your claim (or your request to be assessed for limited capability for work) was made before 3 April 2017 or if you meet the test for ’limited capability for work-related activity’.
The work capability assessment is the same as that used for ESA to assess how much your health or disability limits your ability to work or undertake work-related activity.
Carer element
You qualify for a carer element if you are entitled to carer support payment (CSP).
You can also qualify for a carer element if you are entitled to carer’s allowance (CA) (or meet the conditions for it), or you would be entitled to CA except for the fact that your earnings are too high. You must be caring for someone for at least 35 hours a week who gets certain disability benefits.
This means that, unless you get CSP, you cannot get a carer element if you are in full-time education.
You cannot get an element for being a carer and for your own illness at the same time.
Housing costs element
You get an amount for rent included in your UC if you are liable for the rent on your home (see here). If you own your home, you may be able to get help with certain service charges, but not if you have any earnings in an assessment period.
UC does not include amounts to cover your mortgage interest payments, but you may be able to get a loan from the DWP to help with these. You must normally get UC for three months before you can apply for this help. You can get this help whether or not you are working.
The housing element of UC for rent is paid directly to you, for you to then pay your landlord, although you can request for it to be paid directly to your landlord instead. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers) for more information.
An amount is deducted from your housing costs element if you are in rented accommodation and have a non-dependant living with you. This is called a ‘housing costs contribution’, and is a flat rate of £91.47 a month.
A non-dependant is someone, usually a friend or adult relative, who lives with you, but not on a commercial basis. There is no deduction for a non-dependant who is under 21, and in certain other circumstances.
See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers) for further details about the housing costs element, and about loans for mortgage interest.
Help with your rent
You must be liable for rent. There are some circumstances in which you can be treated as liable for the rent, even when you are not legally liable – eg, if you have taken over paying the rent from someone else.
Your UC housing costs element may not include the full amount of rent that you pay.
If you rent from a private landlord (including a hall of residence), your housing element is based on a standard ‘local housing allowance’ for the size of property that applies to you, even if your rent is higher than this amount. If your rent is lower, your housing element is based on the amount of your actual rent. Each local authority has its own rates for properties of different sizes. Check your local authority’s rates at lha-direct.voa.gov.uk/search.aspx.
Generally, you are allowed one bedroom for:
    an adult couple;
    another single adult aged 16 or over;
    two children under 16 of the same sex;
    two children under 10;
    any other child.
You are allowed a maximum of four bedrooms. If you are a single person aged under 35 with no children, the local housing allowance is usually a lower, shared-accommodation rate. This applies regardless of whether you are actually living in shared accommodation. This lower rate does not apply if you are a care leaver under 25, or you get certain disability benefits, and in some other cases. If you are disabled and need overnight care, you may qualify for an additional bedroom for a carer. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers) for details.
If you rent from a local authority or housing association, your housing element is usually the same as the weekly rent due. However, it is reduced if you are considered to have a spare bedroom (known as the ‘bedroom tax’). The rules about how many bedrooms you can have are similar to the local housing allowance rules, but see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook (for subscribers) for more information. If you are considered to have one spare bedroom, the reduction is 14 per cent, and 25 per cent if you have two or more spare bedrooms. If your housing element is reduced in this way, you should apply for a discretionary housing payment from the local authority.
A discretionary housing payment can be paid if you get UC that includes a housing costs element and you need additional help with your housing costs - eg, to make up the shortfall in rent due to your housing element being reduced because you have a spare bedroom. Payments are usually awarded for a temporary period, beyond which you have to reapply. Apply to your local authority.
Childcare element
If you are working, you can get help with up to 85 per cent of your childcare costs, up to a maximum monthly amount. You must be in paid work, but there is no minimum number of hours that you must work. If you have a partner, you must both be in paid work, unless your partner is ill or disabled, or a carer.
Example
Chloe is 22 and her partner Jo, who is not a student, is 23. They are unemployed and get UC. Chloe starts a full-time, two-year Higher National Diploma course. She gets a student loan for maintenance of £8,000, a special support loan of £2,400, and an independent students’ bursary of £1,000. Their eligible rent is £650 a month.
During the academic year September 2024 to May 2025:
Step 1: Chloe and Jo have no savings or capital.
Step 2: their maximum amount of UC is:
Standard allowance for a couple under 25 £489.23
Housing costs £650.00
Total £1,139.23
Step 3: their monthly income is:
Chloe’s student loan £890.00
The independent students’ bursary and the special support loan are disregarded. The student loan for maintenance is divided over eight months of the academic year, and £110 of the remaining amount is disregarded (see Chapter 15).
Step 4: their income is below their maximum amount, so they get UC of £249.23 a month.
From May 2025 to August 2025:
Step 2: Chloe and Jo’s maximum amount of UC is still £1,139.23 (at 2024/25 rates).
Step 3: their weekly income for UC purposes is nil. This is because Chloe’s student income only counts until the assessment period before the summer vacation.
Step 4: from May 2025 to August 2025, their monthly UC (at 2024/25 rates) is £1,139.23: they get maximum UC from May to August.