About 47,600 Wealden homes are in council tax bands A to D and qualify for the £100 Household Energy Payment from January. In Crowborough it is 58%.
Households in council tax bands A to D will get a £100 Household Energy Payment from January 2027, the government announced in Wednesday’s Budget. In Wealden that covers 47,610 of the district’s 76,460 homes, or 62.3%.
That is well below the England figure of 80.8%. More Wealden homes sit in the higher bands, E to H, which do not qualify. (Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties 2026)
The payment is for England only. Up to 20 million households will be eligible, the government says. (GOV.UK, What the Autumn Budget 2026 means for your energy bills, 28 October 2026)
Who gets it
You qualify if you are liable for council tax on a band A to D property and live there as your main home. The government says that will include most households exempt from council tax. Full eligibility rules are to come “in due course”.
These are not eligible:
- second homes
- empty properties
- households where the person living there is not responsible for the council tax
How you get paid
- If you pay council tax by Direct Debit: you do not need to do anything. The £100 is paid straight into your bank account.
- If you pay another way: Wealden District Council, which collects council tax here, will invite you to apply.
The government warns that nobody other than your council should contact you about claiming it. If a message asks for your details and you are unsure, check with the council first.
Not sure of your band? You can check it on GOV.UK. Our Crowborough council tax bands page has this year’s charge for each band.
How Wealden compares
Wealden has the lowest share in East Sussex. In Hastings, 92.2% of homes are in bands A to D. Across the South East it is 71.3%.
Crowborough, area by area
The Valuation Office also counts bands for small areas of a few thousand homes each. Crowborough’s three areas differ widely:
| Area | Homes in bands A to D | All homes | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crowborough South East | 2,980 | 3,870 | 77.0% |
| Crowborough North East | 1,480 | 2,780 | 53.2% |
| Crowborough Whitehill and Warren | 1,400 | 3,360 | 41.7% |
| Crowborough total | 5,860 | 10,010 | 58.5% |
Across Wealden, the highest share is Polegate, at 91.0%. The lowest is Chelwood and Nutley, at 27.7%. Area names are the House of Commons Library’s. Counts are properties, rounded to the nearest 10, at 31 March 2026.
If you are in band E or above
Not every household that struggles with energy bills lives in bands A to D, the government says. So there is a separate £100 million fund for councils to give discretionary help to households who miss out on the £100.
Each council will set its own rules for that fund. The government says your council will publish who qualifies and how to apply “once local arrangements are in place”. Wealden has not published anything yet.
You may also qualify for the £150 Warm Home Discount if you get certain means-tested benefits.
What it means for you
- Check your band before January. If you are in A to D and pay by Direct Debit, the money should arrive without you doing anything.
- If you do not pay by Direct Debit, look out for Wealden’s invitation to apply, and be wary of anyone else asking you to claim.
- If you are in band E or above and struggling, watch for Wealden’s discretionary scheme. In a district where more than a third of homes miss out on the flat payment, that fund matters more than in most places.
We will report Wealden’s application details and discretionary rules when the council publishes them.
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