‘Vast majority’ of households to receive £350 to help with rising energy bills, Rishi Sunak announces

The ‘vast majority’ of households across the UK will receive £350 from the government to help with the rising cost of energy bills, the chancellor has announced.

Rishi Sunak told The Commons today that those eligible will get a £150 discount on their council tax bill in April and a further rebate of £200 in October off their energy bills.

Around fifteen million households in bands A, B, C and D will be able to apply for these rebates funded by government grants.

The overall £350 payment will then have to be repaid in £40 instalments over a period of five years, starting from next April, Sunak added.

This means around 80% of council tax payers in England will save money.

Local authorities across England will also receive £150m to help households on a lower income.

Read More: Energy bills could rise by 50% unless government intervenes, industry warns

Regulator Ofgem confirmed on Thursday that there will be a 54% rise in the price cap from April 1st due to soaring wholesale gas prices, resulting in energy prices rising by an average £693 a year for millions of households.

Sunak said: “Without government action, this could be incredibly tough for millions of hardworking families… So the government is going to step in to directly help people manage those extra costs.”

Also on Thursday, the Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates from 0.25% to 0.5%, the first back-to-back increase since 2004.

Martin Lewis has previously urged the government to ‘act now’ as the energy crisis looms, saying many households will have to choose between ‘freezing or starving’. 

The Money Saving Expert founder said he felt ‘choked up’ with a ‘wave of nausea’ after listening to people’s stories of how they are already struggling to pay their fuel bills, adding that has donated £100,000 of his own money to the fuel poverty charity, National Energy Action to fund a free chat advice service for vulnerable customers.