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Home / Tools / UK benefit rates

UK and Northern Ireland benefit rates 2026

Every 2026 benefit rate for the UK and Northern Ireland in one place. Northern Ireland pays the same rates as Great Britain — but it also has supports that exist nowhere else, and one big difference on the bedroom tax, so those have a section of their own below.

Each figure is read from the same engine that runs our calculators, which is checked against 708 official sources on a published schedule — so this page cannot quietly drift out of date the way a typed table does.

These are maximum rates. Most payments are means-tested, so what you actually get depends on your income, savings and household. Use the calculator to work out your own figure, and always confirm with the DWP or the Department for Communities before you rely on one.

Disability and care

PaymentWeekly rateHigher rate
Attendance Allowance, lower / higherNot means-tested at all. Savings and income are irrelevant, which is why people with money in the bank rule themselves out of it.£76.70£114.60
PIP daily living, lower / higherTwo independent parts — daily living and mobility. With both at the higher rate the maximum is £194.60 a week, £10,119 a year, tax free.£76.70£114.60
PIP mobility, lower / higherThe higher mobility rate is what unlocks a Motability vehicle.£30.30£80
Carer's AllowanceA cliff, not a taper. Earn one penny over the weekly earnings limit and the whole payment stops.£86.45

Pensions and older people

PaymentWeekly rate
New State Pension, full rateWhat you actually get depends on your National Insurance record — only a State Pension forecast gives your own figure.£241.30
Pension Credit — tops a single income up toGuarantee Credit tops your income up to this figure — it is not paid on top of it. Someone on £230 a week gets £8, which is exactly why people who assume they earn too much never apply.£238
Pension Credit — tops a couple's income up to£363.25

Out of work, illness and bereavement

PaymentWeekly rate
Employment and Support Allowance, support groupPrivate pension income over £85 a week cuts this: half of everything above £85 is deducted, and a large enough pension removes it entirely.£145.90
ESA assessment rate, first 13 weeks£95.55
New Style Jobseeker's Allowance, 25 or overPaid for up to 182 days — about six months, not indefinitely.£95.55
Maternity Allowance, weekly maximumOr 90% of your average weekly earnings, whichever is lower — so anyone earning under about £216 a week gets the 90% figure, not this one.£194.32

Northern Ireland only

PaymentAmount
Lone Pensioner AllowanceA 20% discount on your rates bill if you are 70 or over and live alone. Nothing to do with income — and it is not applied automatically.20%
Disabled Facilities GrantUp to £35,000 from the Housing Executive for stairlifts, ramps and wet rooms — more than England. You cannot apply directly: it starts with an occupational therapist in your Health Trust.£35,000
Free school meals — earnings limitNorthern Ireland kept an income limit England has dropped. On Universal Credit with household earnings under £15,900 a year, through the Education Authority rather than a council.£15,900
Rate RebateReplaces Housing Benefit for rates if you are on Universal Credit. There is no flat figure — it depends on your rates bill — and you must claim it separately from Universal Credit itself, which is why so many miss it.—
Rate ReliefA separate low-income scheme within the rates system. Again no flat rate: it turns on income, savings and household.—
Affordable Warmth SchemeInsulation and heating from the Housing Executive — up to £7,500, or £10,000 for solid wall work — if your gross household income is under £23,000. You must own your home or rent privately: Housing Executive and housing association tenants are not eligible. It is being replaced by the Warm Healthy Homes Fund from April 2027, so check which scheme is open before you apply.£7,500
The bedroom taxThe same 14% and 25% reductions are in Northern Ireland law — but NI alone pays a Welfare Supplementary Payment that can cover them in full, and the scheme has no end date. Contact the Welfare Supplementary Payment Team before assuming you have lost this money.—

Universal Credit

PaymentMonthly rate
Standard allowance, single, 25 or overUniversal Credit is set monthly, unlike every other rate on this page. Earnings above your work allowance reduce it by 55p in the pound.£424.90 a month

Figures last verified against source on 2026-10-11. How we check them →

When these change

UK benefit rates are uprated every April rather than at a Budget. These are confirmed to 2027-04-05, and the next uprating is 2027-04-06. We hold every rate with the date it took effect, so the calculators answer a question about a past date with the rate that applied then — which matters if you are querying a decision made earlier in the year.

Looking for the Republic of Ireland? A completely separate system, with different payments and its own Budget. See Irish social welfare rates 2026 →
Want to check us? Every figure above, its official source URL and the date we last verified it are published at /figures.json. That is what it is there for. How we check our figures →