Reacting to the BBC report “Almost half of households do not see benefits of economic growth, report says”, published on 3 September 2026, covering research by the consultancy PwC. Every regional figure below is taken from that report as the BBC sets it out. The energy figures are Ofgem’s published cap for 1 October to 31 December 2026, the council tax figure is the GOV.UK statistical release of March 2026, and the Bank Rate is the Bank of England’s published series. The arithmetic is shown so you can check it.
How the report measures spending power
The finding being quoted everywhere is that 12.5 million households — 46% — live in parts of the country where economic growth is not producing better living standards.
PwC measures household spending power: income after taxes and housing costs, adjusted for the size and make-up of the household. Our view: that describes household money better than GDP or average earnings, because tax, housing costs and household size all sit between national output and your bank balance.
To work out your own spending power, take what is left after tax and housing across everyone in the household.
What the regional gaps are in monthly money
The report’s regional figures are annual. Divided by twelve:
Annual figures as published in the report on 3 September 2026, divided by twelve. Energy comparison uses Ofgem’s cap of £1,723 a year for a typical dual-fuel household paying by direct debit, in force 1 October to 31 December 2026.
- Yorkshire and the Humber, the worst off: £1,917 below the national average, or £159.75 a month.
- North East: 6.6% below average, £1,542 a year, or £128.50 a month.
- North West: £1,493 a year, or £124.42 a month.
- South East: 9% above average, £2,154 a year, or £179.50 a month.
Yorkshire to the South East is therefore £4,071 a year, or £339.25 a month. A typical household’s entire gas and electricity bill under the October cap is £143.58 a month. So the gap between those two regions is 2.4 times a whole energy bill, every month, all year. The Yorkshire shortfall from the national average is more than a whole energy bill a month.
The two published pairs also let you place yourself. If £1,542 is 6.6% and £2,154 is 9%, the national average spending power implied is somewhere around £23,400 to £23,900 a year, or roughly £1,950 to £1,990 a month after tax and housing. Compare your own figure with that.
Gaps within regions
Within London, Richmond’s average annual disposable income is £35,448. Neighbouring Hammersmith and Fulham is £18,384. That is a difference of £17,064 a year, £1,422 a month, between two adjacent boroughs — more than four times the entire Yorkshire-to-South-East regional gap.
The report also notes Scotland and the south west of England sitting slightly above the national average, because lower housing costs and smaller households offset lower incomes. Housing costs drive much of the difference in all these figures.
Council Tax Reduction
Council tax is the second-largest fixed bill in most households after housing itself, it does not vary with income, and relief from it is means-tested. GOV.UK states that a Council Tax Reduction “could be reduced by up to 100%”, and that you can apply whether you own your home, rent, are unemployed or are working.
Illustrative household. Council tax built on the GOV.UK statistical release of March 2026, which puts the average Band D bill in England for 2026-27 at £2,392, up £111 or 4.9% on the previous year. Band ratios are the statutory ones: Band B is seven-ninths of Band D.
A couple with one child in a Band B home in Yorkshire, whose hours were cut this year.
- Their council tax at the England average: £2,392 × 7/9 = £1,860.44 a year, £155.04 a month.
- Their regional spending-power shortfall, from the report: £1,917 a year.
- A full Council Tax Reduction would be worth £1,860.44 — 97.0% of that shortfall.
For a household that qualifies for full relief, Council Tax Reduction covers almost all of the regional shortfall.
100% is the legal ceiling, not the standard award. In England every council designs its own working-age scheme, so some cap relief well below full relief, and pension-age claimants sit under a separate national scheme. You only receive an award if you apply.
Council scheme names changed in April
The council support landscape in England changed on 1 April 2026. GOV.UK guidance confirms that Discretionary Housing Payments “will come to an end in England on 31 March 2026” and that from 1 April 2026 they are replaced by the Housing Payment strand of the new Crisis and Resilience Fund, which runs to 31 March 2029 and covers crisis payments, housing payments, resilience services and community coordination.
The guidance also requires that “every Authority must operate a Crisis Payment and Housing Payment scheme that accepts applications continuously throughout the year”. GOV.UK also says you do not have to be getting benefits to get help from your local council, and if you do get benefits, they will not be affected by a payment from the fund. It can cover energy and water bills, food, essential items and housing costs.
Anyone searching for last year’s scheme by name is may find an archived page. The help has been renamed and restructured; start from the council-finder.
Four things to do this week
- Work out your own spending power. Twelve months of net household income, minus twelve months of rent or mortgage, divided by twelve. Compare it to the roughly £1,950 to £1,990 a month implied by the report. Our payslip guide explains the deductions and our budgeting guide gives you somewhere to put the answer.
- Apply for Council Tax Reduction if money is tight. Up to 100% off, own or rent, working or not: gov.uk/apply-council-tax-reduction. On the England average Band B bill that is up to £1,860.44 a year.
- Check what your council holds now, under its current name. gov.uk/cost-living-help-local-council routes you to your own authority’s Crisis and Resilience Fund scheme. Applications are open all year, and a payment does not affect your benefits.
- Run a free benefits calculator. The government lists the independent ones at gov.uk/benefits-calculators. They take about ten minutes and are free. Our guide to getting the right help covers who does what beyond that.
What is still uncertain
First, this is a consultancy’s research rather than an official statistic — the Office for National Statistics does not publish ‘spending power’ on this definition, so the regional figures cannot be cross-checked against a national accounts series, and the underlying methodology sits with PwC. Second, the policy response is unresolved: the report argues for local areas retaining more of the revenue their growth generates, the government points to income tax revenue sharing with English mayors, and October’s Budget is where any of it becomes real. Nothing about household support in this piece depends on that outcome. Third, the Crisis and Resilience Fund is an England scheme; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland run their own arrangements, and within England each council sets its own rules, so ask your own council what it offers.
The Bank of England’s Bank Rate has been 3.75% since 18 December 2025, so mortgage and savings movements are not what has changed here.
Where coaching ends. Everything above is public information and arithmetic anyone can repeat. Working out your own spending power, claiming a council tax reduction and checking a benefits calculator do not need a regulated adviser. Choosing investments, moving a pension or arranging a mortgage does. Buzz Accounting Ltd is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to give regulated financial advice and does not give it. Where a regulated recommendation is needed we say so and can introduce you to Equity & General, authorised and regulated by the FCA (No. 474163) — entirely optional, and if you become their client E&G pay Buzz a commission, which we tell you beforehand. If money is a worry today, MoneyHelper, StepChange and National Debtline give free, independent help right now.