The first instalment of the GBP 650 Cost of Living Payment was paid to eligible low-income households in July 2022, according to the International Energy Agency's policy record1. The payment was made in two instalments, in July 2022 and November 20221.
The measure formed part of the third support package against rising energy prices, announced in May 20221. The IEA describes it as a GBP 650 one-off targeted Cost of Living Payment for 8 million low-income households1.
"This consists of a GBP 650 one-off targeted 'Cost of Living Payment' for 8 million low-income households"
The IEA records the payment as an energy affordability spending programme, listed under the economy-wide topic1. The policy record was last updated on 2 April 20251.
The sources do not set out the eligibility rules for the payment, the split between the two instalments, or the payment method. Those details have not been reported here.
Why it matters for households
A one-off cash payment of this kind does not change how a home is heated or powered, but it offsets part of the cost of doing so. For a household on a low income, GBP 650 paid across two points in the year reduces the amount of other income that has to cover energy bills, and the timing of the instalments matters as much as the total: a payment arriving in July, before the higher-demand winter months, and a second in November, as heating use rises, spreads the support across the year rather than concentrating it in one period1.
Energy independence at household level rests on the gap between what a home must spend on energy and what it can afford. A targeted payment narrows that gap for the 8 million households the IEA identifies as recipients, without altering consumption, supply arrangements or the efficiency of the property itself1. The payment is a transfer, not an investment in the home, so its effect lasts only as long as the money does.
The IEA classifies the measure as part of a support package responding to rising energy prices, which places it among short-term affordability measures rather than structural ones1.
What happens next
The second instalment was scheduled for November 20221. No further instalments are recorded in the policy entry, which describes the payment as one-off1.
Households in England can find the wider landscape of income-related support set out in Help for Low-Income Households in England, with the equivalent arrangements for Northern Ireland covered separately. The grants and schemes section collects the payment programmes of this kind, and the household audiences section groups guidance by the circumstances of the reader.