UK households to be given £350 to help pay bills, Rishi Sunak announces

There is a catch – you'll be expected to repay the money over a five-year period

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced that the "vast majority" of households will receive £350 to help them cover the rising energy prices this year. This comes minutes after Ofgem on Thursday announced that energy prices will increase by £693 in April, meaning that people could be paying nearly £2,000 a year on average. [caption id="attachment_315312" align="alignnone" width="2048"]

Credit: Getty - Sunak announced the news on February 3[/caption] Sunak said the relief money will be dished out to those eligible through a £150 discount on their council tax bill in April and a further rebate of £200 taken off their energy bills in October when the next energy cap review is due to take place. The latter amount will be reportedly repaid over five years, starting from next April, according to the chancellor. More than 15 million households currently sitting in council tax bands A, B, C and D are expected be given the rebate funded by government grants. The total rebate is estimated to be £9.1 billion and as many as 28 million homes are expected to receive at least £200 as part of the scheme. Speaking in the Commons, Sunak said: "Just as the government stood behind the British people through the pandemic, so we will help people deal with one of the biggest costs they now face: energy". The Bank of England has also increased its interest rates from 0.25 per cent to 0.5, stating that inflation is set to hit the highest point in thirty years, reports the BBC. Measured by the consumer prices index (CPI), inflation is set to peak at 7.25 per cent in April, and average close to 6 per cent in 2022.