'Relentless' As bills rise and welfare is cut, struggling households prepare for impact

Millions of households are braced for higher costs from this week, as energy, water and council tax bills are all set to increase.

- Jem Bartholomew

The regulator Ofgem has said the energy price cap will rise by £111 from April to £1,849 a year for a typical dual-fuel household in Great Britain.

Council tax, which varies by area, can be raised up to 4.99% a year, although this year the government has granted six English local authorities permission to introduce increases of up to 9.99%.

The Resolution Foundation thinktank has concluded struggling poorer households will be hit disproportionately.

The bill rises come less than a week after the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, unveiled a raft of welfare cuts.

The Department for Work and Pensions estimates that the cuts to health and disability benefits will push an additional 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, into relative poverty after housing costs by 2029-30.

Dozens of people got in touch with the Guardian to share what rising living costs will mean for their households.

‘I never thought I would be so financially insecure’

Elisabeth, a retired 71-year-old who rents privately in Marlborough, Wiltshire, is facing increases in her Thames Water bill, electric bill and council tax but has a largely fixed income.

“It will mean that I have to stretch my pension further to make ends meet,” she says. “I’ll have to cut back on heating and find ways to reduce my food bill.”

Elisabeth says she already has electric storage heaters and uses very little water.

“I don’t shower as often as I used to, I do what I call a bird bath – you fill the sink and just wash the essentials,” she says, adding that she has made changes to cut back on optional spending.

“I don’t send birthday cards, I used to for the grandchildren,” she says.