One off £185 payment to land in thousands of UK bank accounts soon

A one-off payment is going to land in thousands of UK bank accounts in the upcoming weeks.

And with the weather getting colder and the festive season getting closer, a bit of extra cash might well be needed.

So, as we get into winter, councils all over the country are helping out Brits who may be struggling with the cost of living.

This payment comes from the Household Support Fund.

The fund was first announced in September 2021 to help vulnerable households with essentials over the colder months.

As part of the most recent extension, £842 million is being provided in England to push the Household Support Fund from April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

This funding then goes to local authorities to support vulnerable households in their area.

Councils across England therefore have their own share of the fund to distribute to their residents who need it most.

So, what you’re entitled to will vary depending on where you live.

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Some councils also share out the money through local charities and community groups and others limit household applications for the fund to one per year.

Different areas may choose different ways of using the fund to support people, with the City of York Council paying out £185 in November.

If you live there, you may have already been sent an invitation at the end of April if the council thought you were eligible for the payment.

Others could also apply through their discretionary application route to receive the cash.

To be eligible without having received the invitation link, you ‘must require urgent financial assistance and not have enough income or savings to meet the eligible costs the scheme can help with’.

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Those who were verified will have received £185 by the end of June and will automatically get another £185 by the end of November.

If you are struggling and live under the authority of City of York Council, they’re taking applications until 31 March next year to receive the next payment.

While this process may be similar for many other areas, it’s worth having a check of how your local council is paying out their share of the Household Support Fund - which you can do here.

In some good money news, nearly half a million UK workers can expect their wage to have risen by 10 percent from yesterday (24 October).

More than 460,000 Brits working for 14,000 employers will receive the pay rise to reflect the ongoing cost of living crisis. Workers will now expect to receive £12 an hour outside London - a rise of £1.10 - and £13.15 an hour in the capital - a £1.20 increase.

The change applies to employers who have signed up to the voluntary Real Living Wage scheme - set up by the Living Wage Foundation charity - and choose to pay a rate that is higher than the government-set minimum wage.

As we know too well, every penny counts at this point.