About 116,460 Brighton and Hove homes, 86% of the city, are in council tax bands A to D and qualify for the Budget's £100 from January. Who gets it and how.
Six in every seven homes in Brighton and Hove are in council tax bands A to D, so most of the city’s households should get the £100 energy payment announced in Wednesday’s Budget. It is paid from January 2027.
About 116,460 of the city’s 136,070 homes are in bands A to D, or 85.6%. Across England the figure is 80.8%, and across the South East it is 71.3%. The other 19,610 homes in Brighton and Hove, in bands E to H, will not get the payment.
The counts come from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax stock of properties for 2025, which records every home on the list at 31 March 2025.
What the Budget announced
The government’s explainer on energy bills, published on 28 October, sets out how the payment works:
- £100 per household, called the Household Energy Payment
- council tax bands A to D in England only, for the household that is liable for council tax and lives in the home as its main home
- paid from January 2027
- up to 20 million households across England
- most households that are exempt from council tax are included; full rules are still to come
- second homes, empty properties and households who are not responsible for the council tax are left out
How Brighton compares
The bands still rest on what a home would have sold for on 1 April 1991. The city has 30,090 homes in Band A, 30,490 in Band B, 35,410 in Band C and 20,470 in Band D.
That puts Brighton and Hove well above most of its Sussex neighbours. Only Adur, which takes in Shoreham and Lancing, has a higher share of the places compared below.
| Area | Homes in bands A to D | All homes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adur | 25,810 | 28,980 | 89.1% |
| Brighton and Hove | 116,460 | 136,070 | 85.6% |
| Worthing | 42,960 | 51,980 | 82.6% |
| Lewes | 35,130 | 47,360 | 74.2% |
| Wealden | 46,800 | 75,240 | 62.2% |
| Mid Sussex | 43,280 | 70,340 | 61.5% |
| South East | 2,975,430 | 4,170,770 | 71.3% |
| England | 20,815,830 | 25,754,280 | 80.8% |
Within the city, the same tables split the homes by parliamentary seat:
- Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven: 40,520 of 46,200 homes in bands A to D (87.7%). This seat includes Peacehaven and Telscombe, which are in Lewes district, not the city.
- Brighton Pavilion: 43,750 of 50,200 (87.2%)
- Hove and Portslade: 41,900 of 50,450 (83.1%)
These are counts of homes, not households. Some will be empty or second homes, so the number of households that receive the £100 will be a little lower. The government has not published a figure for each council.
How the money will be paid
The government says the council will handle it:
- If you pay council tax by direct debit and live in bands A to D, you do not need to do anything. The £100 will be paid into your bank account.
- If you pay another way, the council will invite you to apply.
- Nobody other than the council should contact you about it. The government warns people to give personal details only when they are sure the council is the one asking.
Brighton & Hove City Council welcomed the payment in a release on 28 October. Council leader Bella Sankey said the Budget provides “some much-needed help for residents in Brighton & Hove”. The council has not yet said when its payments will go out or how the application route will work.
If your home is in Band E or above
The government is giving councils an extra £100 million to make discretionary payments to struggling households outside bands A to D. Each council sets its own rules for that fund and will publish them on its website once its scheme is ready. Brighton and Hove’s share has not been announced.
Separately, households on some means-tested benefits may get the £150 Warm Home Discount, whatever their band.
What it means for you
- Check your band on the GOV.UK council tax band tool. Our Brighton council tax bands page lists what each band pays in 2026/27.
- If you are in A to D and pay by direct debit, the £100 should arrive from January without you doing anything.
- If you pay by cash, card or standing order, look out for the council’s invitation to apply.
- If you are in Band E or above and struggling, watch for the council’s discretionary scheme. We will report the rules when it is published.
- Treat any text or email about the payment with suspicion unless it clearly comes from Brighton & Hove City Council.
The Budget also extends the zero rate of VAT on household electricity bills until July 2027 and asks Ofgem to remove the standing charge from gas bills as early as 2027, according to the same government explainer.
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