RISHI Sunak is considering increasing the warm home discount by hundreds of pounds to help with the cost-of-living crisis.
The chancellor is set to tackle energy bills with a package in July, before focusing on general tax cuts in the autumn.
2
2
The warm home discount will give three million of England and Wales’ poorest homes £150 off their bills from October.
But Treasury officials have also drawn up plans for a one-off increase of £300, £500 or even £600, The Times reports.
The extra measures could cost more than £1 billion and would be directly funded by the Government, instead of being slapped on the nation’s already-surging energy bills.
Inflation is expected to have risen by as much as 9.1 per cent in the year to April – a significant increase from 7 per cent in March.
Mr Sunak is coming under growing pressure from Tories to do more to help people under the cost-of-living crisis.
The Government announced a £200 rebate earlier in the year to help customers with the rising costs on the way.
It will be applied in October but customers will have to repay the discount in instalments from 2022, as the government itself predicts the rocketing price turmoil to die down by then too.
Thousands of households are already receiving council tax rebates of £150 to help cope with rising costs too.
Most read in Money
If you’re struggling with energy bills, you might qualify for a grant from an energy provider hardship fund.
It is also worth finding out what help your local council is offering through the Household Support Fund, to see if you could get some extra cash to cover essentials.
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The Sun Online Money team?
