Glossary · UK
What is National Minimum Wage Accommodation Offset?
The maximum daily amount an employer can deduct or charge for provided accommodation before it starts reducing pay below the National Minimum Wage -- £11.10 a day in 2026/27.
Full Definition
The accommodation offset is the only benefit-in-kind that counts towards National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage pay calculations. If an employer provides living accommodation (a flat above a pub, staff housing on a farm, live-in care accommodation, and similar), it can charge or deduct up to a daily maximum -- £11.10 a day for 2026/27 -- without that charge counting as reducing the worker's minimum wage pay. Any amount charged above the daily offset does reduce the pay counted for minimum wage purposes, and can result in underpayment if the worker is already close to the minimum rate. No other benefit in kind (meals, uniforms, transport, tools) can be offset against minimum wage pay in this way -- the accommodation offset is a unique, specifically legislated exception.