£100 Household Energy Payment: who gets it and when

Households in council tax bands A to D in England will receive a £100 Household Energy Payment from January 2027, according to the Budget 2026 document published by HM Treasury.

The payment is part of the Budget of 28 October 2026. The document puts the scheme at £2.6 billion.

Who gets the £100 payment?

The document limits the payment to council tax bands A to D in England. It says around 80% of households in England will gain further from the payment, on top of the electricity VAT cut.

The government also estimates, in the same document, that the payment will reach 83% of fuel-stressed households in England.

When will it be paid, and how?

The document gives the start as January 2027 and does not name a day. It describes the payment as a £100 council tax rebate that will be delivered by local authorities, and in its overview it says the money will go directly into bank accounts.

It does not say whether households will need to apply, and it gives no detail on how local authorities will pay the money out.

What if my home is in a higher band?

The £100 is limited to bands A to D. Separately, the Treasury is providing £100 million of extra funding for local authorities in England for targeted support, and says some of the households concerned are in bands above A to D. The document does not say how councils will choose who gets that help.

What about the rest of the UK?

The £100 payment is for England. The devolved governments will receive their share of the funding through the Barnett formula, which the document says will enable them to provide “similar support”. It does not say what each will do with the money.

Is this the same as the electricity VAT cut?

No. The VAT cut is a separate measure, extending the 0% rate on qualifying domestic electricity in Great Britain until July 2027. The Treasury expects it to take around £50 off the annual Ofgem price cap in April 2027. For Northern Ireland, the document says the government is funding the Northern Ireland Executive to provide comparable support with household electricity bills, and that extended VAT relief is expected to apply there from April 2027.