The chancellor has announced increases to Universal Credit, the local housing allowance rate and the state pension in a bid to alleviate the current cost of living crisis.
Delivering his Autumn Statement address in Parliament, chancellor Jeremy Hunt (pictured) revealed Universal Credit and other benefits will increase from next April by 6.7% in line with September’s inflation figure.
Hunt added the measure would result in an average increase of £470 for five and a half million households next year.
Moving on to renters, as rent can constitute more than half the living costs of private renters on the lowest incomes, Hunt announced an increase to the local housing allowance rate to the 30th percentile of local market rents, explaining this will give 1.6m households an average of £800 of support next year.
The chancellor also announced plans to honour government’s commitment to the state pension triple lock in full.
From April 2024, government will increase the full state pension by 8.5% to £221.20 a week which would be worth up to £900 a year.
And finally, the chancellor revealed he was freezing all alcohol duty until 1 August next year.