JUST 50 per cent of Waverley households and 45 per cent of East Hampshire homes will qualify for the Government’s £150 payment to help with rising energy costs this April.

Households will receive the £150 payment through a rebate on their council tax bills to help cope with the energy price cap rise on April 1 – but only households in council tax bands A to D will get it.

Properties are placed into different bands based on how much they are worth, with residences in band H valued highest.

Waverley and East Hampshire have a notably high proportion of expensive houses, with only a little over five households in 10 in Waverley and four in 10 in East Hampshire eligible for the rebate.

This is compared to more than eight in 10 across the country.

Borough and district councils will pay the £150 council tax rebate to households “as soon as possible from April” and it must be paid by the end of September. It does not have to be repaid.

For people who pay council tax by direct debit, the rebate should go directly into their bank accounts.

Otherwise, councils should contact the household as early as possible to make them aware of the scheme and invite them to make a claim.

Councils are, however, warning of delays should home-owners not register to pay by direct debit in advance.

Cllr Charles Louisson, East Hampshire District Council portfolio holder for finance, said: “This is a huge administrative task, and we will distribute the rebates as quickly and as efficiently as possible, but we ask for your patience while we work through them.

“Residents with direct debit arrangements for council tax payment will receive their rebates automatically direct to their bank accounts.

“Other residents will need to apply, and these applications will need to be processed and checked by the council and sent to the government for a fraud test. Given the large numbers of applications involved this process is likely to take several weeks.”

If you have not yet registered for council tax direct debit payment, you can do so by following the links:

There is also a £200 discount available on energy bills this Autumn for domestic electricity customers, but this needs to be paid back over five years.