Housing Benefit overpayments cost the taxpayer nearly £1.4bn in 2013/14, spending watchdogs have calculated.

A report issued today by the National Audit Office (NAO) indicates total housing benefit overpayments represented the lion's share, some 42% of total benefits overpayments, overseen by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and constituted 5.8% of the overall £23.9bn cost of annual housing benefit payments.