Advice for park home residents

The Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Funding 

The Energy Bill Support Scheme (EBSS) now covers consumers who buy energy through a commercial contract, or who don’t have a direct relationship with an energy supplier. 

This means many park home residents will (as non-domestic consumers) receive £400 in a one-off grant payment through the EBSS Alternative Funding arrangements.

Residents will need to submit a short online application form via the government’s GOV.UK pages.  A dedicated customer helpline is available to assist customers who do not have online access. 

The relevant local authority will deliver the support this spring to eligible consumers once applications for EBSS Alternative Funding have been processed and verified.

• The date of this payment will depend on when the application was made and when the payment can be processed.
• Park home residents who have a direct relationship with an energy supplier and are receiving monthly payments under the Energy Bills Support Scheme, as domestic customers, are not eligible for EBSS Alternative Funding.

The Energy Bill Support Scheme Alternative Fuel Payment

The UK government announced in 2022 that it will double support to £200 for households using alternative fuels to heat their homes, in recognition of the pressures caused by rising fuel costs. These include:

• Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
• Biomass
• Heating oil

Park home residents who this applies to and who don’t have a direct relationship with an energy supplier, will need to apply for the Alternative Fuel Payment.

• The same GOV.UK portal will be used for Alternative Fuel Payment applications and EBSS Alternative Funding scheme support applications.

For more information, see the GOV.UK energy bills guidance page.

Government support for energy consumers

• Winter Fuel Payment – for people born on or before 25 September 1956.
• Cold Weather Payment – a £25 payment for every 7 days of very cold weather (below freezing) between November and March.
• Warm Home Discount – a £150 discount for some people getting Pension Credit or some people in low-income households. Please note that for park home residents this scheme is administered by Charis on behalf of the government, and you do not need to apply via an energy supplier directly.

If you live in Scotland or Wales;

• Child Winter Heating Assistance - A £214.10 annual payment per disabled child and young person under 19 living in Scotland.
• Winter fuel support scheme - A £200 annual payment for Welsh households in receipt of certain benefits.

Charis offers information on grants and schemes to help with paying energy bills.

Turn2us has a benefits calculator and a grants search tool to help you find out what support you can get as well as a Find an Adviser tool for more information on benefits.

Start by working out which debts you need to deal with first. Priority debts are ones that can cause serious problems if you don’t do anything about them. They include things like:

• Energy bills
• Rent or mortgage
• Council tax.

You can learn more about priority debt on the Citizens Advice website. Their budgeting tool can also help you manage your finances.

These organisations can support if you are struggling with debt due to high energy bills:

• Money Advice Service
• National Debtline
• StepChange Debt Charity

Find ways to help reduce energy use and prevent heat loss on our Actions for saving energy page.

Energy Saving Trust, Citizens Advice and National Energy Action also offer helpful advice for ways to save energy, reduce consumption and lower your energy bills.

Additionally, you can call Simple Energy Advice if you’re in England or Wales, or Home Energy Scotland if you’re in Scotland.

• Simple Energy Advice: 0800 444 202
• Home Energy Scotland: 0808 808 2282

The government’s ECO4 scheme has allocated funding for upgrading park home heating systems. Visit the Energy Company Obligation page on gov.uk. to find out more.

The Priority Services Register is a free support service for people in vulnerable situations.

Distribution Network Operators (the organisations who manage the distribution network that brings energy into our homes) keep their own Priority Services Registers.

Park home residents are eligible to sign up for the PSR of their area’s network operator if they meet the eligibility requirements.

Find out which Distribution Network Operator (DNO) operates in your area.

You can then contact the DNO and request to be added to their PSR. To find out more about eligibility and the services available see our Priority Services Register guidance.

Your rights are covered by the Maximum Resale Price direction.

The Maximum Resale Price (MRP) direction

The MRP direction means that the site owner cannot make a profit from the energy they resell to residents. They must only recoup the price they paid to the energy supplier.

• Site residents must pay for their proportion of the site’s usage, as far as can be reasonably calculated by the site owner.
• The reseller can't cover any of their own energy use by charging it out to the residents.
• The direction doesn’t apply to all the energy-related fees charged by the site owner, who is entitled to charge a fair administration fee for things like meter reading and invoicing.

How can park home residents find out if the site owner is following the MRP direction?

You have a right to see documentation between the reseller and the energy supplier.

• This includes a breakdown of the rates, for example, for a bill or a contract.
• You also have a right to know the methodology used to calculate residents' charges. 

How can park home residents seek redress if they believe the MRP direction has been breached?

Ofgem has no formal role in determining individual MRP disputes. If disputes arise and an agreement can't be reached with the site owner, the dispute would need to be resolved by the civil courts.

If you have any other concerns regarding the physical energy infrastructure of the park home site such as:

• The energy infrastructure does not have adequate capacity to cope with the demand placed on it by residents.
• The infrastructure might be dangerous to residents.

These concerns should be raised with your local authority. They act as the Licencing Authority for park homes and are responsible for ensuring sites are safe for residents to live on.