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The £100 Household Energy Payment in Norfolk: who gets it and who doesn’t
Bands A to D, main home only, from January 2027. How many Norfolk homes that covers, why second homes miss out, and what the councils have said so far.
Most households in Norfolk should get £100 from January 2027. The Household Energy Payment, announced in the Budget on 28 October, covers council tax bands A to D, and 88% of Norfolk’s homes are in those bands, against 81% across England. If you pay your council tax by direct debit you should not need to do anything. The homes left out are those in higher bands, empty homes and second homes, and this county has a lot of second homes.
No Norfolk council has said yet how it will run the scheme, and the government’s detailed guidance has not been published. We will update this page when it is. Until then there are three small jobs: check your band, be wary of any contact about the money that does not come from your own council tax office, and if a Norfolk cottage has become your main home, tell the council.
Who qualifies
The rule from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has two parts. You must be liable for council tax on a home in bands A to D in England, and you must live in it as your main home. It is a one-off payment for this financial year. The government says up to 20 million households in England are eligible. The Budget’s £2.6 billion for the scheme includes money for the devolved governments.
Liable is the word that matters. A tenant who is liable for the council tax on a rented house qualifies in the same way as an owner. A household where the householder is not responsible for the council tax is excluded. In the similar £150 rebate of 2022, that left out some shared houses where the landlord was liable, while a tenant on a bills-included deal who stayed liable still qualified. The 2027 criteria may differ.
The government says most households exempt from council tax are included, with the full criteria still to come. In 2022, occupants of student-exempt houses counted unless the house was a house in multiple occupation for council tax purposes, and halls of residence did not. Students in Norwich should watch for the final list.
How many homes that is in each district
The Valuation Office Agency counted 397,240 homes in bands A to D in Norfolk on 8 September 2026. The figures include homes nobody lives in, so the last column shows the second homes in those bands, from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s October 2025 count. Each district name links to its council tax page. Broadland and South Norfolk share a website but are separate councils with separate bills, and Breckland’s council tax is run by the Anglia Revenues Partnership.
| District | Homes in bands A to D | All homes | Share in bands A to D | Second homes in bands A to D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwich | 65,340 | 69,320 | 94.3% | 928 |
| Great Yarmouth | 47,560 | 50,540 | 94.1% | 2,565 |
| Breckland | 58,920 | 66,960 | 88.0% | 414 |
| King’s Lynn and West Norfolk | 67,360 | 77,060 | 87.4% | 2,385 |
| Broadland | 54,440 | 63,630 | 85.6% | 321 |
| North Norfolk | 48,030 | 56,870 | 84.5% | 4,911 |
| South Norfolk | 55,590 | 68,890 | 80.7% | 479 |
| Norfolk | 397,240 | 453,260 | 87.6% | 12,003 |
The agency rounds each figure to the nearest 10, so the districts do not sum exactly to the county. Norwich and Great Yarmouth have the largest shares, at 94%, and four in ten Norwich homes are in Band A, the lowest band. South Norfolk has the smallest share, about the same as England as a whole, with 13,300 homes in Band E or above.
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Second homes and empty homes
Second homes and empty homes are excluded whatever their band. Norfolk’s councils recorded 14,095 second homes in October 2025, and 12,003 of them were in bands A to D. North Norfolk has the most by a distance: its 4,911 are about one in ten of the district’s band A to D homes. Take the 12,003 away and the county has about 385,000 homes in range, before empty homes and the other exclusions. That is our own sum from two counts a year apart, so treat it as a rough size. Holiday lets that pay business rates are outside council tax altogether, so they do not qualify either.
The test is the main home. Owners of a second home still qualify on their main home if it is in bands A to D, but not otherwise. A couple who live in a Band F flat in London and own a Band C cottage in Wells-next-the-Sea get no main payment for either. If the cottage really is now where you live, tell the district council. That should bring it into the scheme, although no cut-off date has been published, and it also ends the 100% premium that North Norfolk, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, Great Yarmouth and Norwich charge on second homes. Do not stretch this: North Norfolk warns that giving false information to avoid the premium is a criminal offence. Our second homes guide has the detail.
How the money reaches you
The government says direct debit payers will have it paid into their bank account automatically, and everyone else will be invited by their council to apply. Its letter to councils expects them to begin paying from January 2027, and “from” leaves room. In 2022 payments began in April and the scheme did not close until 30 November, so do not expect every household to be paid in the first month.
Nothing published says that setting up a direct debit now puts you on the automatic route. In 2022 councils were told they might want to take particular care where bank details had changed since the scheme was announced, and to avoid, as far as possible, paying automatically into an account whose name did not match a liable person. Those were 2022’s rules, but they suggest a change of details close to payment could slow things down. If you are moving house you have to change them anyway, so do that as normal.
The government’s warning on scams is short: only your council should contact you about claiming. Breckland households may hear from the Anglia Revenues Partnership, which handles their bills. Norwich City Council is already warning about fraudulent letters claiming to be from Norfolk County Council, which use a QR code to send people to a fake payment website. If a text, email or letter about the £100 asks for bank details, check first, using the number on your bill.
If you are moving this winter
The government has not said whether a single date will decide who qualifies, which matters if you complete around Christmas or New Year. The 2022 rebate used one date, 1 April 2022, and judged each household at the end of that day. If 2027 works the same way, the home you lived in and were liable for on that date is the one that counts, and it could be in a different council area from the one you are in when the money arrives. Give both councils your exact moving dates and keep the final bill from your old address.
If you are moving from Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, do not assume anything. Those governments receive their share of the funding and decide how to use it.
Check the band of any home you are serious about. Your bill shows it, and GOV.UK has a free search, which failed under the rush during the Budget speech. Our Norfolk council tax guide gives the Band D charge for each district and how the other bands relate to it, and the moving to Norfolk checklist covers the other bills to set up.
What £100 buys in an oil-heated home
One Norfolk household in six is heated by oil alone: 17.3% at the 2021 Census, rising to 25.1% in King’s Lynn and West Norfolk and 24.6% in North Norfolk. The payment reaches those homes in the same way as any other, because it runs through council tax and no energy supplier is involved. BoilerJuice’s UK average on 31 October was 116.87p a litre for a 1,000-litre order. At that price £100 buys about 86 litres, or 8.6% of a delivery costing about £1,169.
The Budget’s other energy measures do less for those homes. VAT came off household electricity on 1 October, which the government says saves an average of £45 a year, and the cut now runs to July 2027. Ofgem has been asked to remove standing charges from gas bills, with the Budget aiming for the end of 2027 or as soon as possible after, which does nothing for a house with no gas. The tariff on kerosene for heating is suspended from 26 November 2026 to 31 December 2028. The Budget says that will support households using heating oil, but it does not say how much will reach the price of a delivery, and we have not found a source that does. Our oil heating guide covers tanks and buying schemes.
If your home is in Band E or above
Norfolk has 56,020 homes in bands E to H, 12% of the total, and they are outside the main payment. The government is giving English councils £100 million between them to help the households hit hardest by energy bills, including some above Band D. Each council will set its own rules, and no Norfolk allocation or rule has been published. Households on means-tested benefits may also qualify for the £150 Warm Home Discount.
What the councils have said
Two have said they are waiting. North Norfolk’s council tax page says it is awaiting government guidance on how the scheme will work. The Anglia Revenues Partnership, which runs Breckland’s council tax, says it is awaiting information too, and asks people not to call about it because it cannot yet answer questions. When we read the council tax pages of Norwich, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, Great Yarmouth, Broadland and South Norfolk on 31 October, and their news pages, we found no notice about the payment.
Your district is the one that will pay, or the partnership in Breckland. Norfolk County Council takes the largest share of the bill but does not send it out. The government told councils to start preparing and promised detailed guidance “shortly”, with no date. It says the guidance will cover eligibility, payment arrangements and what is expected of the discretionary fund, so there is little point ringing before then.
The bill keeps rising
The £100 comes once. Norfolk County Council’s consultation on its 2027-28 budget closes on 7 December 2026. It sets out 86 proposals against a £35.927 million gap, and says it is considering a council tax rise of 3% or of up to 5%, with no final decision made. On this year’s county share of £1,843.38 at Band D, that is about £55 or up to about £92, by our sum. This year’s county rise added £87.75. The running costs of living here are in our Norfolk cost of living guide.
Common questions
Do I have to apply for the £100?
You should not need to if you pay by direct debit. If you pay another way, your council will invite you to apply. Invitations have not started.
I get a single person discount or council tax reduction. Does that stop it?
A 25% single person discount leaves you liable for the tax, so it should not matter. In 2022 households on council tax reduction qualified, including those with nothing left to pay. The 2027 criteria have not been published.
Will it come off my council tax bill?
The government describes a payment into bank accounts. In 2022 councils could also offer a credit on the council tax account to households not paying by direct debit. How that works for 2027 has not been set out.
Is it taxed, or will it affect my benefits?
The government has not said for 2027. The 2022 rebate was not taxable and was not counted as income for means-tested benefits.
My home is Band E but charged as Band D because of a disability adaptation. Do I qualify?
In 2022 such homes did. The 2027 criteria have not been published, so ask your district when they are.
Methodology
The rules are from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s story of 28 October 2026, Council Tax Information Letter 6/2026 and the Budget 2026 document. The 2022 comparisons are from the Council Tax Rebate 2022-23 billing authority guidance, questions and answers, and factsheet, and they show how a similar scheme worked, not how this one will. Homes by band are from the Valuation Office Agency’s Council Tax stock of properties supplementary table, as at 8 September 2026. Second homes are from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Council Taxbase 2025 local authority data, in which second home status was taken on 6 October 2025. We added its tables 6.05, 6.07 and 6.11; the same sum gives its published England total of 267,894. Oil heating is from the 2021 Census. The kerosene price is BoilerJuice’s own index, the average of the lowest price per UK postcode district, and a real delivery will differ. The county share and rise are from MHCLG’s council tax tables for 2026-27. Nothing here is financial advice.
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