Nearly half of households in Brentwood are not eligible for a tax rebate meant to help them deal with rising energy costs.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced this month that homes in council tax bands A-D are to receive £150 in April to mitigate a record increase in global gas prices.
The energy price cap is set to shoot up by 54 per cent in that month.
Just 37pc of Brentwood homes boast an EPC rating of C or above – below the national average – and 54.5pc will be eligible for the rebate, according to data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
The Institute for Public Policy Research claimed 2.2million of the country’s poorest are ineligible because they live in higher band properties.
They will have to hope for a share of the £144million pot of discretionary funding intended for local authorities to support vulnerable households not covered by the rebate.
The rebate will automatically be paid back from the customer’s bills in instalments over the next five years from April.
This comes amid the Recorder's There With You This Winter campaign, which is keeping readers up to date on the emerging cost of living crisis and helping to raise awareness of support on offer.
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