Eligible households must apply for the payment before a looming deadline.
Eligible households will be awarded payments of up to £200 (Image: Getty)
Households in one part of the UK are being urged to claim cost of living payments worth up to £200 in January to help with rising energy and water bills.
The payments are being awarded to eligible low income households in Portsmouth in receipt of certain benefits as part of the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Household Support Fund, with other local councils giving out cost of living support in other parts of the UK too. The DWP scheme gives local councils across England a share of a funding pot worth £742 million to help struggling households with essential living costs, including energy bills and food. The funding is allocated from now until March 31, 2026, and local councils independently decide how to share the cash, so depending on where you live, there may be different criteria to qualify for the support.
In Hampshire, Portsmouth City Council is awarding cost of living payments of up to £200, but there’s only a matter of weeks left for households to apply.
Elgible single households will receive a £150 payment, while couples or families will get a £200 payment to help pay energy and water bills.
The council said households must apply for the support by 12 noon on Thursday, January 29, 2026, after which the utilities payment scheme will close. The scheme may also close earlier than the deadline if all funding has been given out.
Portsmouth City Council said: “Eligible households in Portsmouth can apply for a single payment between 08 December 2025 and 12:00 noon on Thursday 29 January 2026. Due to limited funding, this scheme may close earlier than this, if all the funds have been given out.
” To be eligible for the Household Support Fund Utilities Payment, a household must meet all the following criteria:
- Resident in Portsmouth City Council’s area (postcodes PO1 – PO6, PO7 5AT, PO7 5AU, PO7 5AX, PO7 5AY, PO7 5AZ, PO7 5BA, PO7 5BS, PO7 5BT or PO7 5BU);
- Aged 16 or over;
- A total net (take-home) household income from earnings and pensions (excluding benefits and tax credits) of below £935 for a single person household or £1350 for a couple in the month prior to applying;
- In one of the qualifying groups listed below;
- Have submitted a complete application and provided all requested evidence of circumstances before the scheme closes.”
As Household Support Fund cash is distributed independently by local councils in England, it means that the cost of living support available will vary by location, with different vouchers or grants up for grabs up and down the country, and depending on where you live, payments may also be issued at different times of the year.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says there may also be differences in who the money is given to and if or how you need to apply for the support, as some local councils opt to share the money out through local charities and community groups, while some limit household applications to one per year.
For example, households in Staffordshire can get a one off £300 utility payment made direct to their utility provider via the scheme, while residents in Calderdale can get a maximum of two payments of £85, amounting to £170 worth of support in total.
In the East Midlands, households in Nottingham can apply for £100 vouchers to spend in supermarkets, while in South Yorkshire, Doncaster Council is giving eligible households up to £300 towards food costs and other households can qualify for a £100 payment to go towards energy bills.
In the East of England, Cambridgeshire County Council is issuing £110 to eligible households in the form of direct payments or supermarket vouchers, residents in Manchester receiving Council Tax support and a disability benefit can get payments of up to £130 to help with living costs, and in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Council is awarding £85 supermarket vouchers to eligible state pensioners.
