People in receipt of Housing Benefit will receive an extra two weeks’ support with their rent when they move onto Universal Credit from today.

New claimants of Universal Credit (UC) already getting support with accommodation costs will continue to receive Housing Benefit (HB) for a fortnight after their claim ends.

This non-recoverable extra support is worth an average of £233.

Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey said: “We understand that moving onto UC can be a big change for those used to the previous benefits system, so extra rent support is being made available to allow people to adjust from fortnightly HB payments to monthly UC ones.”