Andrew Bailey (Justin Tallis/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)Hundreds of thousands of “squeezed middle” London households will miss out on the Government’s council tax rebate, it was claimed on Friday — as the Bank of England chief warned families to brace for the “difficult period ahead”.
Homes in council tax bands A to D will receive a £150 payment to help with surging costs on top of a £200 loan, ChancellorRishi Sunak announced yesterday. The capital is set to receive at least £400 million from the Chancellor’s energy support package, which will go to more than 2.6 million London households, according to analysis by London Councils.
But it has been estimated that 854,000 middle income households in bands E and F in London will not receive the £150 rebate. Surrey is believed to have 158,000 households in the higher bands who will just miss out on the payment.
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: “The squeezed middle in London and the South-East are being punished for high energy prices.
“This plan is a betrayal of the squeezed middled in the south. Millions of families who have scrimped and saved to get on the housing ladder will be without any support.”
The huge disparities in council tax charges between boroughs and the rise in house prices since bands were set in 1991 also mean some will benefit more than others. Many of those in Kensington Gardens Square in upmarket W2 — a stone’s throw from Hyde Park — will receive the rebate.
But a large number of families in boroughs such as Richmond and Kingston, where over 30 per cent of homes are in Bands E and F, will not. Council tax is also much lower in some central London boroughs. Those in band D homes in Westminster pay £827 a year, while Kingston band D residents are charged £2,087.
Local authorities are finalising council tax rises and many expect to see bills increase by three per cent in April.
Londoners are also bearing the brunt of surging food and travel costs and inflation at the same time Ofgem announced an almost £700 increase to the energy price cap.
The Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, told the BBC today: “It is going to be a difficult period ahead, I readily admit. Because we are already seeing and we’re going to see a reduction in real income. We are going to start coming out of it in 2023, based on what we see today.”
Mr Sunak said there was “direct support that will help around 28 million households with rising energy costs over the next year”.
