Council tax rebate: Rishi Sunak shares further details on the discount | Personal Finance | Finance
80 percent of homes will be eligible for the extra money. Every homeowner with a property graded in bands A to D can receive the rebate. This will not need to be repaid.
Every homeowner with a property graded in bands A to D can receive the rebate. This will not need to be repaid.
Mr Sunak made the announcement in the House of Commons on Thursday, and now further details have been published on Gov.uk.
The Government website explains households in England, which are in council tax bands A, B, C or D, will get the £150 rebate.
Gov.uk said: “The rebate to bills will be made directly by local authorities from April. This one-off payment will benefit around 80 percent of all homes in England and is £1billion more generous and more targeted towards lower-income families than a VAT cut on energy bills.
“On top of this discount, discretionary funding of £144 million will also be provided to support vulnerable people and individuals on low incomes that do not pay council tax, or that pay council tax for properties in Bands E-H.”
It comes as energy regulator Ofgem announced a £693 rise in its price cap, taking it to £1,971 from April.
Globally, there has been a fourfold increase in the wholesale price of gas.
Currently, a £700-a-year rise in the average household’s energy bills is forecasted this year.
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Overall, the Government’s £9.1billion Energy Bills Rebate is ultimately aimed at supporting lower-income families with rising energy prices.
As such, all domestic electricity customers will get £200 off their energy bills from October this year.
The Energy Bills Rebate will provide around 28 million households with an upfront discount on their bills worth £200.
Energy suppliers will apply the discount to domestic electricity with the Government meeting the costs.
The discount will then be automatically recovered from people’s bills in equal £40 instalments over the next five years.
This will begin from 2023, when global wholesale gas prices are expected to come down.
It also comes as welcome news that the Government will go ahead with existing proposals to expand eligibility for the Warm Home Discount.
This will increase the number of people eligible for the payment by one third, which is around 780,000 families.
There will be a £10 uplift in Warm Home Discounts so the £140 yearly payment will increase to £150 next winter.
The Chancellor further announced that local authorities will be given access to a discretionary fund of approximately £150million. This will be to help lower-income households living in higher council tax properties.
Homes in bands A to D that are exempt from council tax and therefore ineligible for the rebate will also benefit from the fund.
