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This release includes statistics on:

• the number of households with deductions from their Universal Credit (UC) entitlement
• the average amount deducted in total, and for each of the three main deduction types: advances, third-party and government deductions, (see the What you need to know section for more information on types of deduction)
• the distribution of the proportion of the UC standard allowance deducted
• the combination of deductions applied to UC households

Where appropriate, these figures are broken down by region, local authority and parliamentary constituency. More detailed breakdowns are available in the supplementary tables.

Main stories

The headline statistics are:

• approximately 2.9 million UC households (47% of all UC households) had one or more deductions taken from their UC entitlement in February 2025. The number of households with a deduction continues to increase in line with the UC caseload increasing. The percentage with a deduction has increased slightly from 45% to 47% over the past few months
• North East England has the largest proportion of UC households with one or more deductions, at 53%. South West England has the lowest proportion, at 42%
• the average monthly amount deducted has been broadly similar over the last few months, reducing by 拢1 compared to the last publication, to 拢68 in February 2025
• around 14% of UC households had deductions capped at 25% of their Universal Credit standard allowance, a further 2% had deductions taken over the cap to help prevent eviction or disconnection of their energy supply in February 2025
• the maximum repayment period on budgeting advances increased in December 2024 from 12 months to 24 months. The effect of this change could explain the small decrease in average repayment amounts in February 2025

What you need to know

A 鈥渄eduction鈥� refers to an amount of money taken off the monthly UC entitlement amount towards reducing a debt owed to the government or other organisation^{[footnote 1]}. Deductions are subtracted from the monthly UC entitlement after any adjustments have been made to account for the household鈥檚 financial circumstances e.g. earnings.

There are three main types of deduction:

• Advances 鈥� deductions taken towards the repayment of a UC advance payment. The four types of UC advances are: new claim, benefit transfer, change of circumstances and budgeting^{[footnote 2]}
• Third Party Deductions (TPD) 鈥� deductions for money owed by the UC household to organisations such as energy companies or landlords
• Government Deductions 鈥� deductions for money owed to government organisations such as the DWP or HMRC

The amount deducted for each debt depends on the type of debt and combination of debts owed by the household. In most cases the maximum amount that can be deducted from a UC household is capped at 25% of the monthly UC standard allowance. There is a priority order of deductions, starting with advances, followed by third-party debts like rent and utility arrears, then government debts such as social fund loans and tax credit overpayments. Any deductions that would push the total amount deducted above the 25% overall deduction cap are not taken but are addressed when there is room within the cap. Therefore, for households with multiple debt types, deductions for debts further down the priority order are more likely to push the total amount over the cap, and so would not be taken.

The 25% overall deduction cap can be exceeded only for 鈥榣ast resort deductions鈥�, which are housing cost arrears (rent and or service charges) and gas and electricity arrears. This helps to support the prevention of eviction and having pre-payment meters fitted^{[footnote 3]}.

Households with deductions from their UC entitlement

Figure 1: Number and proportion of households with one or more deductions from their monthly UC entitlement, March 2024 to February 2025

2.9 million UC households had one or more deductions taken from their UC entitlement in February 2025. This is 400,000 more households than had a deduction in February 2025. The proportion of all UC households with a deduction has increased to around 47% in February 2025.

Figure 2: Distribution of total deduction amount relative to the standard allowance, March 2024 to February 2025

14% of UC households had monthly deductions capped at 25% of Standard Allowance (SA) in February 2025 鈥� these proportions have not changed substantially over the reporting period. A further 2% had monthly deductions at over the 25% cap. The 25% cap can only be exceeded in certain circumstances, for example where there is a risk that the household may face eviction or having their energy supply disconnected if they do not repay some of an outstanding debt.

Deductions by type of deduction

Figure 3: Proportion of UC households with each deduction type

The proportion of UC households with each main deduction type is relatively stable over time. Advances are the most common with 32% of UC households repaying advance debt in February 2025. Government deductions are the second most common, at 24%, followed by third party deductions at 13%.

Mean amount deducted per UC household

Figure 4: Average (mean) monthly UC household deduction by deduction type

The mean total deduction amount for UC households increased from 拢64 in March 2024 to 拢68 in February 2025. In February 2025, the mean deduction amount for government deductions was 拢59, for advances it was 拢41 and for third party deductions it was 拢37.

This increase was driven by the standard allowance being uprated in April 2024. Since most deduction amounts are set at a fixed percentage of the standard allowance, the increase in the standard allowance led to the total mean deduction amounts also increasing.

Average advance repayments amounts are usually fixed for the lifetime of the advance repayment period. The average repayment amount for all advances will therefore increase a slower rate than for the other deduction types as it takes time for the repayments of newer advances to build up sufficiently to change the average repayment amount of all advances. The maximum repayment period on budgeting advances increased in December 2024 from 12 months to 24 months. The effect of this change could explain the small decrease in average repayment amounts in February 2025.

Combinations of deductions

Of all the UC households with a deduction, around 33% have deductions for advances only in February 2025 鈥� the most common deduction type. There has been some variation in the trends in deduction combinations over the past year:

• a small increase in the proportion of households with:
  • government deductions only
  • advance deductions and Government deductions
• small reductions in the proportion of households with:
  • third-party deductions only

The annual uprating of the standard allowance happened in April 2024. Since most deductions are set at a fixed percentage of the standard allowance, as the standard allowance increases, the deduction amount also increases. However, deduction amounts for advances are set at a fixed monetary amount agreed with the claimant(s) when the advance is taken out. Therefore, households with advance deductions may then be able to make repayments towards other debts that will now fit within the 25% of standard allowance cap, which potentially leads to these debts being paid off sooner.

Figure 5: Proportion of UC households with a deduction by specified combinations of deductions

Regional breakdown of deductions

The table below provides the regional breakdown of UC households, the number and proportion of households with one or more deductions and the total and average amount deducted.

Around 47% of all Universal Credits households in Great Britain had one or more deduction from their UC entitlement in February 2025. The mean monthly deduction amount was 拢68.

The table shows that North East England has the largest proportion of UC households with one or more deductions, at 53%. Whereas South West England has the lowest proportion, at 42%. UC households with a deduction have similar average monthly deduction amounts across Great Britain, at between 拢67 and 拢71, with the overall average being 拢68. Further breakdowns by local authority and parliamentary constituency are available in the accompanying supplementary data tables.

Figure 6: Regional breakdown of UC households with deductions in February 2025.

February 2025	UC Households with one or more deductions	Proportion of UC households with one or more deductions	Total amount deducted	Average monthly deduction per household
All	2,900,000	47%	拢201,000,000	拢68
North East	160,000	53%	拢11,000,000	拢68
North West	410,000	50%	拢28,000,000	拢69
Yorkshire and The Humber	290,000	49%	拢20,000,000	拢68
East Midlands	200,000	45%	拢14,000,000	拢67
West Midlands	310,000	47%	拢21,000,000	拢68
East of England	220,000	43%	拢15,000,000	拢68
London	440,000	43%	拢31,000,000	拢71
South East	300,000	43%	拢20,000,000	拢68
South West	180,000	42%	拢12,000,000	拢67
Wales	160,000	49%	拢10,600,000	拢68
Scotland	260,000	51%	拢18,000,000	拢67
Unknown	11,200	56%	拢730,000	拢65

About these statistics

These statistics have been classed as official statistics in development.

All figures in this publication are derived from Universal Credit administrative data.

Figures are provisional and may be subject to minor change in subsequent releases. This is partly because a household鈥檚 UC entitlement, and therefore appropriate deductions, can be altered retrospectively e.g. if evidence is received late. This means that the number of households with deductions for any given month may be revised in subsequent releases.

All figures are for Great Britain only. Figures in tables are rounded according to the following convention.

Range	Rounded to the nearest
0 to 1,000	10
1,001 to 10,000	100
10,001 to 100,000	1,000
100,001 to 1,000,000	10,000
1,000,001 to 10,000,000	100,000
Over 10,000,000	1,000,000

Percentages are rounded to the nearest 1% and average monetary amounts have been rounded to the nearest 拢1.

Figures in charts are based on unrounded numbers. Therefore, charts may show trends not visible in the supplementary tables.

Notes

This bulletin counts households by the month their UC payment was received, whereas the main Universal Credit statistics count households whose assessment period spans a particular date in each month.

When information is given for regions of Great Britain, this is derived from the claimants鈥� residential address. Not all claimants have a valid address listed, which means that a small number of households have 鈥淯nknown鈥� region information.

For the full data, see the supplementary data tables published alongside this release.

The following changes to deductions policy have been implemented recently:

• December 2024 鈥� increasing the maximum repayment period for budgeting advances from 12 months to 24 months^{[footnote 4]}
• April 2025 鈥� the Fair Repayment Rate, which caps the overall deduction rate applied to deductions from Universal Credit (UC) at 15% of the UC claimant鈥檚 standard allowance^{[footnote 5]}

Further information and feedback

Lead Statistician: Owen Magrath

Analyst: Thomas Milner

贰尘补颈濒:听ucad.briefinganalysis@dwp.gov.uk