Universal Credit and DWP benefits could rise by up to £163 under Labour

Payments usually rise every April and millions of households on benefits are set to get a payment rise next year amid the ongoing Cost of Living crisis.

Universal Credit and benefits could rise by up to £163 a year in a major Cost of Living boost. Payments usually rise every April and millions of households on benefits are set to get a payment rise next year amid the ongoing Cost of Living crisis.

Payments usually increase in line with the previous September’s inflation figure, which will be published on Wednesday. Inflation was at 2.2 per cent in August and experts expect that this will remain the case for September, with the announcement due tomorrow.

At this rate a single person aged over 25 who is claiming Universal Credit would receive £402.11 a month from April - £8.66 per month more than the £393.45 they currently get. Joint applicants who are aged over 25 may receive around £631.19 per month from April, £13.59 more than they currently get.

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This would add up to a £163.08 difference over the course of a year. Those who are single and aged under 25 could see their currently monthly benefit climb by £6.86 which would mean their payments rise from £311.68 per month to £318.54 next spring.

Couples who are under 25 could see their payments climb from £489.23 to £500 per month, a difference of £10.77. Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, said these increases are “tiny” compared to the amount benefits were boosted during times of higher inflation.

She said: “When you spend a larger proportion of your income on the essentials, and things like energy prices remain so high, making ends meet will still be an enormous struggle for an awful lot of people.” Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said: “People are still feeling the pinch, especially since additional cost of living payments ended last February.

“The hike will once again be considerably smaller than the increase for pensioners, who will see their payments increase by 4% thanks to the triple lock.”