Housing Benefit Overpayments Up 10% to £1.3 Billion

Housing benefit overpayments during the past 12 months have increased by 10% to over £1.3 billion, government figures showed today. The DWP has also written off around £31 million of HB overpayments during the same period. The DWP said the figures were huge because more HB overpayments had been identified - with a 5% increase in the past year alone. It also said the amount of HB overpayments recovered had risen, by 4%. Read more on the DWP website.