Almost half of British adults are worried about paying their energy bills amid “urgent” calls for a social tariff.
Some 45% of adults – or around 24 million people – are worried about their ability to pay their energy bill over the next six months, up from 29% when the poll was last taken in January, debt charity StepChange said.
In the last three months, almost three in five adults (58%) have taken action to try and cut spending on their energy bill, rising to 74% among those worried about their ability to pay their bill.
More than a quarter of adults in England and Wales – 28% or approximately 14 million – are worried about their ability to pay their water bills, the same survey found.
Two in five of those with a water meter (41%) have tried to reduce their water spending, with around two in five of those cutting back how often they shower or bathe (43%) or on how often wash clothes or bedding (39%).
The findings come as StepChange published its Plugging the Gap research, which calls for a tiered national social tariff for both the energy and water sectors to better protect the most vulnerable households.
Household energy prices fell by 7% from April 1 in a “short-lived respite” for households already braced for a currently predicted 12% hike from July.
The drop in Ofgem’s price cap from £1,758 to £1,641 – a reduction of £117 or around £10 a month for the average household using both electricity and gas – is an 11% fall year on year but still £600 more than bills were in the winter of 2020 to 2021.
There is increasing concern about the amount energy bills could rise by as a result of the Middle East conflict, with latest predictions from Cornwall Insight suggesting this could be 12% or £196 a year from July amid volatile prices in wholesale markets.
Household water bills across England and Wales are to rise by an average of 5.4%, equating to £33 a year for the average household.
There is significant regional variation in bill increases, with Severn Trent customers seeing a 10% increase, Sutton and East Surrey imposing an 11% increase, Bristol Water a 12% rise and Affinity Water (central region) customers warned they have a 13% jump coming.
Around 2.5 million households are eligible for social tariffs, with savings of around 40%.
StepChange chief executive Vikki Brownridge said: “Making ends meet is getting harder – household essentials like energy and water are becoming increasingly unaffordable and are driving problem debt at alarming rates.
“Where people once commonly came to us after a life shock and emergency borrowing, more often we have clients telling us they simply cannot afford the cost of living as cumulative rises and historic arrears cripple budgets.
“These pressures are acute amongst our client base but also feature in the country at large, and the coming moment demands action from the Government, with urgent need for tiered national social tariffs across both water and energy, designed to plug the gap, so that those in need of support can access it, preventing problem debt before it takes hold.”
The report drew on data analysis of 153,829 StepChange clients who completed online or telephony debt advice in 2025, with a further online survey of 257 clients.
YouGov also surveyed 2,104 adults earlier this month.
