Housing and the cap
Cost of Living Payments: why none are coming, and the help that remains
The last Cost of Living Payment went out in February 2024. Here is what was paid, and what a household on benefits can still expect in 2026/27.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
There is no Cost of Living Payment in 2026/27. GOV.UK states that DWP is not planning to make any more, in guidance updated on 1 April 2026, and a message asking you to apply for one is likely to be a scam. Between July 2022 and February 2024, people on Universal Credit, Pension Credit, income-based JSA, income-related ESA, Income Support or tax credits received five automatic payments, of £326, £324, £301, £300, £299, £1,550 in all, while disability benefit claimants got 2 payments of £150 and pensioners £150 or £300 with the Winter Fuel Payment. In their place, England’s councils have run the Crisis and Resilience Fund since 1 April 2026, open to anyone who cannot pay for essentials. The regular winter help continues: Winter Fuel Payment of £200 or £300 for people born on or before 27 June 1960, Cold Weather Payments of £25 per cold spell, and a £150 Warm Home Discount for households on means-tested benefits in Great Britain.
One-off payments you can expect this winter
Fixed one-off payments
£350
| Winter Fuel Payment | £200 |
| Cold Weather Payment | £25 per cold spell |
| Warm Home Discount | £150 |
No Cost of Living Payment is planned for 2026/27. In England your council’s Crisis and Resilience Fund can help in a crisis, with or without benefits.
The five low-income payments, 2022 to 2024
The Cost of Living Payments were paid automatically to anyone entitled to a qualifying means-tested benefit on a set date, or, for Universal Credit, for an assessment period ending in a set window. A couple on a joint claim got one payment between them. New Style JSA and New Style or contributory ESA alone did not qualify.
| Amount | Paid to most people from |
|---|---|
| £326 | 14 July 2022 |
| £324 | 8 November 2022 |
| £301 | 25 April 2023 |
| £300 | 31 October 2023 |
| £299 | 6 February 2024 |
Tax credit claimants were paid by HMRC instead, provided their entitlement for the year was at least £26; anyone on both tax credits and a DWP benefit was paid once, by DWP. People on PIP, DLA, Attendance Allowance, Adult or Child Disability Payment, Armed Forces Independence Payment and some war pensions received the separate £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment in 2022 and again in 2023. Pensioners entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2022 to 2023 or 2023 to 2024 had an extra £150 or £300 added to it. None of these payments was taxable or affected other benefits, and none was repeated after 6 February 2024.
Why the payments stopped
The GOV.UK guidance now carries a single line at the top saying DWP is not planning any more, followed by the record of what was paid. Ongoing help has moved to local schemes and the regular benefits themselves, which rose by 3.8 % in April 2026, with the new State Pension up 4.8 %.
What exists in 2026/27 instead
Crisis and Resilience Fund (England)
From 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029, DWP funds English councils through the Crisis and Resilience Fund to prevent hardship and to help people facing a financial crisis. GOV.UK also sends English tenants who need extra help with rent to the same fund, where Scotland and Wales use Discretionary Housing Payments. Councils decide how to run it, so help can go towards energy and water bills, food, essential items or housing costs, and some councils offer food vouchers to families in the school holidays. You do not have to be on benefits, and a payment does not affect any benefit you get. Search your council’s website for “Crisis and Resilience Fund”.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Wales has the Discretionary Assistance Fund, Scotland the Scottish Welfare Fund with Crisis Grants and Community Care Grants, and Northern Ireland Discretionary Support and the Short-term Benefit Advance. Each is a crisis scheme rather than a flat payment, and each decides case by case. Northern Ireland’s Discretionary Support, for instance, is open to households with annual income after deductions of up to £29,741.40, offers up to 3 interest-free loans in any 12 months, and can give a grant instead when a loan could not be repaid. Crisis Grants and Community Care Grants in Scotland are grants, so nothing is repaid.
Winter payments that carry on
The Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2026 to 2027 is £200, or £300 for those born before 28 September 1946, paid automatically to anyone in England, Wales or Northern Ireland born on or before 27 June 1960. HMRC takes it back from people whose own income is over £35,000. Scotland pays the Pension Age Winter Heating Payment instead. Cold Weather Payments of £25 are made for each 7-day spell at or below zero between 1 November 2026 and 31 March 2027 to people on Pension Credit and some on Universal Credit or income-related ESA; Scotland replaces them with a £62.00 Winter Heating Payment paid whatever the weather. The Warm Home Discount of £150 reopens in October 2026, taken off the electricity bill rather than paid to you.
What three households can expect this winter
A pensioner in England on Pension Credit can count on £350 of fixed one-off help: Winter Fuel Payment £200 and Warm Home Discount £150, plus £25 for every cold spell. A lone parent in Wales on Universal Credit, not working, with a two-year-old, gets £150 through the Warm Home Discount and the same cold-spell payments. The same family in Glasgow gets £212, the Winter Heating Payment plus the Warm Home Discount, and no Cold Weather Payments. Families in Scotland with children under 16 also get Scottish Child Payment, £28.20 a week per child, all year round.
A household in work on Universal Credit with no young child or health element can still qualify for the Warm Home Discount in England and Wales, but not for Cold Weather Payments. Use the checker above for your own case, and the benefits calculator to see whether you are missing a regular benefit, which is usually worth far more than any one-off payment. A Budgeting Loan or Budgeting Advance can cover a single large cost interest free.