Warm Home Discount to continue for rest of decade

The announcement comes as the average household energy bill sits at £1,758 a year for customers on a standard variable tariff in England, Wales and Scotland.

Mr Miliband said the move was about stability for struggling households. “Tackling the affordability crisis is the Government’s number one priority,” he said. “That is why we are today confirming to millions of eligible families across the country that they will receive the £150 Warm Home Discount every winter for the rest of the decade.”

Around six million households now eligible, and the expansion of the scheme last year made an extra 2.7 million families eligible, with the £150 rebate applied automatically to bills for most people on qualifying means-tested benefits.

Ofgem has confirmed that the latest rise in the energy price cap — up 0.2% from January — is partly driven by the cost of funding nuclear power projects and discounts for others. Consumers are effectively being asked to bankroll long-term energy infrastructure while struggling to afford today’s bills.

Charities warn many vulnerable households still fall through the cracks. Matt Copeland of National Energy Action said the extension was “welcome news for low-income households”, but stressed that support must also reach people “not within the benefits system”, warning that without this, many will “remain without the help they need”.

The Government has also promised an average £150 cut to bills from April by scrapping the Energy Company Obligation scheme — another sign that ministers know prices remain too high.

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, warned that extending the Warm Home Discount is necessary but not enough as households face a fifth winter of high energy bills.

“With gas prices continuing to demonstrate their volatility, reaching an 11-month high in recent days, keeping the Warm Home Discount in place avoids a damaging cliff-edge for households struggling,” he said.

However, he cautioned that “simply rolling it forward at the same level, with the same rules, risks locking in a scheme that we already know doesn’t reach everyone who needs help”.

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He said ministers must not “freeze it in its current form” if the discount is to underpin energy bill support to 2030. He warned that “too many people are left out altogether or not given enough support to make a meaningful difference”, including those with electric-only heating, people off the gas grid, park home residents and families facing higher costs due to disability or poor housing.

“Without uplifts for high-cost households and a clear application route, it will continue to miss large numbers of people in genuine fuel poverty,” he said.

Industry voices welcome the certainty but acknowledge the scheme’s limits. Ned Hammond of Energy UK said it was “very good news” the discount will continue, adding it will provide “vital support with energy bills to millions of customers”. But he also called for “better targeting and tiered support… to really make a difference for customers struggling to afford bills”.