DWP to make four changes to Universal Credit from April - full list

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed that nearly four million households will see an annual income boost estimated at £725, following Royal Assent being granted on 3 September to a Bill reforming the welfare system. The Universal Credit Act 2025 is now law.

Reforms outlined in the Universal Credit Bill are intended to rebalance the core payment and health top-up within Universal Credit. The legislation will permanently raise the Universal Credit standard allowance above inflation, amounting to £725 in cash terms for a single person aged 25 or over by 2029/30.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), this represents the largest permanent real-terms increase to the main rate of out-of-work support since 1980.

The DWP stated that rebalancing the health and standard elements of Universal Credit is designed to tackle the "fundamental imbalance in the system which creates perverse incentives that drive people into dependency" through:

• Raising the Universal Credit standard allowance above inflation for the next four years - estimated at £725 by 2029/30 for a single adult aged 25 or over.
• Reducing the health top-up for new claims to £50 per week from April 2026.
• Ensuring that all existing recipients of the Universal Credit health element - and any new claimant meeting the Severe Conditions Criteria and/or assessed under the Special Rules for End of Life (SREL) - will continue to receive the higher Universal Credit health payment after April 2026.
• Exempting those with the most severe, lifelong conditions from reassessment.

The DWP said the reforms will address the "fundamental imbalance in the system which creates perverse incentives that drive people into dependency". Alongside these changes, the department has introduced significant new measures, granting people receiving health and disability benefits the right to try work without the risk of reassessment.

The new "Right to Try Guarantee" applies to people with a disability or health condition - such as those recovering from illness - who wish to return to work once their health improves. The Act also includes measures to safeguard the most vulnerable and severely disabled. This includes around 200,000 people within the Severe Conditions Criteria group - individuals with the most severe, lifelong conditions who are unlikely to recover - who will not be required to undergo a Universal Credit reassessment.

All existing recipients of the Universal Credit health element, as well as new claimants with 12 months or less to live or who meet the Severe Conditions Criteria, will see their standard allowance combined with their Universal Credit health element rise at least in line with inflation each year from 2026/27 to 2029/30.

DWP said: "This means they can live with dignity and security, knowing the reforms to the welfare system mean it will always be there to support them."

DWP is also putting disabled people at the heart of a ministerial review of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment led by Disability Minister Sir Stephen Timms and co-produced with disabled people, along with the organisations that represent them, experts, MPs and other stakeholders - making sure it is fair and fit for the future.

DWP said: "We will be engaging widely over the summer to design the process for the review and consider how it can best be co-produced to ensure that expertise from a range of different perspectives is drawn upon.

"These reforms are underpinned by a major investment in employment support for sick and disabled people - worth £3.8 billion over the Parliament. Funding will be brought forward for tailored employment, health and skills support to help disabled people and those with health conditions get into work as part of our Pathways to Work guarantee."