Nearly 3 million more families would be eligible to receive the £150 Warm Home Discount next winter under new proposals to help people with their energy bills

Here are some details of an EPC:

www.reallymoving.com/energy-performance-certificates/guides/how-to-get-an-energy-performance-certificate-epc

It costs £35-£120 + VAT apparently.

If you're an owner occupier, have low income (ie about the same as the eligibility for Pension Credit), low savings and live in a cold house, it might be worth getting a certificate. In any case, the report will tell you what could be done to improve the energy efficiency and could save you money.

Once the house has an EPC, it will be registered and people can check immediately if they're eligible for the W.

SIlverbrooks I think a problem with rolling into one single payment is that the eligibilty criteria aren't the same. For example, somebody could be above the threshold for Pension Credit, but live in an energy-inefficient home and be eligible for Warm Home Discount but not the WFP.

W = Warm Home Discount (don't know what happened to the rest of the words in my original post).

Barleyfields

I wish you happiness in your new life.

It won't be a new life because we've been together for four years, but it will be a new area. It's ironic really because my partner was, until he retired at the end of last year, a higher rate taxpayer. The first thing he did when he received some of his pension lump sum was to open an ISA and put £20k into it. We were waiting for the new tax year to open another one. Anybody who thinks I write with the "politics of envy" is barking up the wrong tree. Up to now, I've been fiercely independent about my own finances and I've been reluctant to accept anything from him. It's going to seem strange not having to worry myself sick about money.

I’m sure your life will be much better (provided you can get him to make the house warmer!).

growstuff how exciting to be embarking on a new life in a new area, I wish you well.

Growstuff

The following is from the speech that followed KS today. I'm hoping this holds out some hope for those in your position.

First, we want to provide greater help to the most vulnerable in time for next winter. The warm home discount currently gives around 3 million families a £150 rebate on their energy bills. The current system provides help to those on means-tested benefits, but excludes millions of people in homes not classified as hard to heat, as a result of criteria introduced by the last Government in 2022. These criteria are seen by many as arbitrary and unreliable, and they mean there are families in almost exactly the same circumstances with some receiving help and others not.

hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2025-02-25/debates/311EEA55-55E9-433E-9E18-1DAC4633ED78/WarmHomeDiscount

PoliticsNerd I won't be "vulnerable" next winter. However, I agree absolutely with KS's speech. I don't know the finer details of any new scheme, but it does seem as though the current government has listened to those who have campaigned on behalf of people who have fallen through the net.

I have never been the stereotypical "poor person" because I have conditioned myself to be happy with what I have. I won't ever forget what it's like to live on the breadline and have people look down on me. And I won't forget the people who moan, when they don't know how well off they are.

I've just read the speech. I'm not sure I would have been eligible for the new scheme. It mentions people receiving means-tested benefits. I receive Housing Benefit, but this is excluded from the list of means-tested benefits which give eligibility for the WFP. I suspect it's excluded from the list of eligibility criteria for the Warm Home Discount too. My income after housing costs (remaining rent and council tax) is just over the eligibility for Pension Credit (just over £200 a week). According to many on here, that isn't sufficient for needs, so it's a mystery how I survive. I'd write to my MP, except it's the useless Kemi Badenoch and I know she wouldn't do anything.

That speech sounds very positive!

Good, isn't it growstuff. A bit of positivity goes a long way