lizzie if you're renting you may well be hit by the 'bedroom tax' which comes in with immediate full effect in April. This is part of the reforms that came in with the comprehensive spending review and emergency budget back in 2010, and not to do with the introduction of Universal Credit as part of hte Welfare REform Act from October?
the CSR introduced a number of things, including increasing the non-dependent deduction tapers, changes to the local housing allowance, the 'bedroom tax' and the abolition of council tax benefit.
All of these should be explained to you by your local authority housing benefit department - they will be able to advise you if you're going to be affected by any of them.
the local housing allowance changes will impact if you rent privately and the bedroom tax changes if you rent from a housing association or local authority.
The bedroom tax will cause you to lose 14% of benefit if you have 1 'spare' room and 25% of benefit if you have 2plus spare bedrooms? the definitions of 'spare' are tight eg they have changed the ages to which children should share and they do not allow older couples to sleep separately even if for medical reasons.
the bedroom tax changes (ie the 14 and 25% cuts) are universal, but the abolition of council tax benefit isn't. The benefit is being abolished universally, but is to be replaced by local schemes which will be designed and implemented by the individual local authorities, so it very much depends on where you live as to what will happen. The local authorities have to make savings of 10% on what was their 'council tax benefit' - some local authorities will choose to reduce 'benefit' payments by 10%. Others have abandoned the lone person discounts in order to cover 'benefit' payments for those on low incomes. Others have increased their charges to second home owners or owners of empty properties in order to fund the 10% shortfall?
I suggest that you give your local authority housing benefit team a call to see if they can explain to you what will happen with your individual circumstances. If you're unable to get through, or if you find them unhelpful (neither of which is unheard of!!) I suggest trying your local CAB, or law centre, or benefits advice centre for some more advice (assuming these services haven't been completely cut yet in your area!)
the benefit cap may or may not apply - two main things to consider here - either the rate of benefit that you're currently receiving from DWP (eg are you on high rated benefits?) and the area you live in (ie how much rent and council tax you pay) The benefit cap when it comes in will apply to ALL benefits including housing and council tax, so for many of those in the south east where rents and council tax tends to be highest, you may be hit, even if your DWP 'benefits' income is fairly low.
The information you need to be able to work out what will happen with your individual circumstances is probably available on the net somewhere - ie on your local authority website, but these can often be difficult to get to and understand which is why I suggest asking for some help - also to help put your mind at rest or at least allow you to plan for what's coming!