Housing Benefit (HB) in the UK subsidizes the rent of tenants in both the private and public sectors. Its share in total welfare benefits has risen markedly through time and there is widespread dissatisfaction with it. But, reform has been very slow. One important issue is the extent to which the incidence of HB is actually on the tenants. Exploiting two data sets from the mid-1990s when the subsidy regime changed for some tenants but not for others, this paper explores the incidence. We find that some of the incidence is on landlords though our two data sets differ in the extent to which this is true. We also find evidence in support of a ?matching? model of the rental market rather tha n a perfectly competitive one.

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December 2003     Paper Number CEPDP0597

Download PDF - The Incidence of UK Housing Benefit: Evidence from the 1990s Reforms

This CEP discussion paper is published under the centre's Labour programme.