Lone Pensioner Allowance (LPA) and Disabled Person's Allowance (DPA) statistics

Lone Pensioner Allowance (LPA)

Ratepayers aged 70 or over who live alone may be entitled to 20 per cent discount on their rates. LPS process applications from ratepayers who own their own home whilst the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) process applications from ratepayers who rent their homes.

LPS hold details on individual awards of LPA made by LPS and on the total amount of LPA awarded by NIHE.

Latest statistics

As of 31 March 2024, 35,020 owner-occupiers were awarded LPA totalling £8,464,649 across Northern Ireland.

The number of people and the net amount of LPA awarded from 2010 to 2024 by district council, for those owning their own home, is provided in the link below. Information from the NIHE on those who rent their own home is also provided.

• Lone Pensioner Allowance statistics documents 

Disabled Person's Allowance (DPA)

Where a property has been suitably adapted or has additional features to accommodate a disabled person's special needs, a ratepayer may be entitled to 25 per cent discount in their rates in the form of disabled persons allowance. DPA is an application based relief which is not means tested.

Latest statistics

As of 31 March 2024, there were 12,295 properties where DPA was awarded, totalling £4,687,743 across Northern Ireland.

The number of properties in receipt of DPA and net amount awarded, from 2010 to 2024 by district council is provided in the link below:

• Disabled Person's Allowance statistics documents

Future updates

This report has been discontinued following the consultation on User engagement on ‘Lone Pensioner Allowance and Disabled Person’s Allowance’ annual publication on GOV.UK.

The data will continue to be published on Open Data NI annually in April.

• Disabled Persons Allowance Statistics - Dataset - Open Data NI
• Lone Pensioner Allowance Statistics - Dataset - Open Data NI

Revisions to published statistics

Annual figures may be revised, if necessary. Any revisions from the figures published in the previous year will be detailed at the bottom of the relevant table.

Quality Reports

This section provides information on the quality of data used to produce the LPA and DPA statistics.

• Lone Pensioner Allowance (LPA) and Disabled Person’s Allowance (DPA) statistics Quality Reports

Contact us

Responsible Statistician: Louise McVitty
Email: lps.statisticsbranch@finance-ni.gov.uk

User consultation on Lone Pensioner Allowance and Disabled Person’s Allowance statistics

An online consultation was held between 23 October 2024 and 17 December 2024, seeking users’ views on the proposal to discontinue publishing the ‘Lone Pensioner Allowance and Disabled Person’s Allowance statistics’ on GOV.UK, and instead continue to upload the data on Open Data NI. The responses to the consultation were generally in support of the proposal.

As a result, the ‘Lone Pensioner Allowance and Disabled Person’s Allowance statistics’ for 31 March 2024 will be the last to be published on GOV.UK. The data will continue to be published on Open Data NI in the same format, but as management information, during April of each year.

A full write up of the responses and actions taken, as a result of the feedback is available in the Outcome of Consultation on User engagement on ‘Lone Pensioner Allowance and Disabled Person’s Allowance’ annual publication on GOV.UK.

More useful links

• Lone Pensioner Allowance | nidirect
• Disabled Person's Allowance | nidirect