Homes handed £190 cost-of-living payment for Asda, Tesco, Aldi M&S | Personal Finance | Finance
UK households struggling with increased living costs will be handed a £190 cash boost from this month to help with paying bills. The payment comes as part of the Government’s Household Support Fund which provides local councils across England with a share of a funding pot worth £742 million. The fund is to help vulnerable homes pay for essential living costs over the winter months, including energy bills, food and other essentials. The funding is allocated from now until March 31, 2026, and local councils independently decide how to share the cash, so there may be different eligibility criteria depending on where you live.
In North Yorkshire, North Yorkshire Council has confirmed it will be making cost of living payments of £190 to eligible households from October 8. Those who qualify will receive a single e-voucher payment of £190 for food and other essentials which can be spent at nine different supermarkets, including Aldi, Asda, Farmfoods, Iceland, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose. Only Asda, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose offer both in-store and online shopping.
North Yorkshire Council says you will be eligible if you were getting a weekly discount of 75% or more on your council tax bill through the means-tested Council Tax Reduction Scheme as of Monday, September 1, 2025. You won’t be eligible if you only get the 25% single person council tax discounts for households where only one adult is living in the property.
The Council said everyone who is eligible will receive a letter by Thursday, October 23, 2025, which will include information about how to claim and use the e-voucher. Once households receive their letter, they can claim the £190 e-voucher online by entering their personalised code.
North Yorkshire Council explains: “Select the supermarket you would like to shop with. You can choose from more than one supermarket to split your e-voucher and you will need to select vouchers to the full amount. Then enter your name and email address to check out. Once you have redeemed your vouchers, you will not be able to change the supermarket.
“Look out for your e-voucher in your email inbox. It could take up to 72 hours for the email to arrive. Remember to check your spam folder. The email will come from northyorks@select-essentials.co.uk and the email subject will be ‘Your Select code has arrived!’.
“Get your voucher by email and go shopping using your smartphone, or with a printed voucher if you prefer. You do not need to spend your voucher all in one go. If you do use a printed voucher, please look after it the same as you would money.”
As Household Support Fund cash is distributed independently by local councils in England, it means that the cost of living support available will vary by location, with different vouchers or grants up for grabs up and down the country.
The payments may also be issued at different times depending on where you live, so it’s possible for some to receive the support in time for Christmas, while others may have a longer wait.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says there may also be differences in who the money is given to and if or how you need to apply for the support, as some local councils opt to share the money out through local charities and community groups, while some limit household applications to one per year.
For example, households in Staffordshire can get a one off £300 utility payment made direct to their utility provider via the scheme, while residents in Calderdale can get a maximum of two payments of £85, amounting to £170 worth of support in total.
Leeds City Council is making payments of up to £120 to eligible households in receipt of Council Tax Support from October 13 via a Post Office Voucher, and Doncaster Council is paying eligible households up to £300 towards food costs, while other households can qualify for a £100 payment to go towards energy bills.
Elsewhere, households in Nottingham can get energy vouchers worth £98 and supermarket vouchers worth £75, amounting to £173 worth of support, and residents in Manchester receiving Council Tax support and a disability benefit can get £130.
