A retirement home developer is offering to pay pensioners’ Winter Fuel Allowance for five years amid controversy over Labour’s decision to cut the universal benefit.
The developer announced it will cover the allowance worth up to £300 per year for new property buyers.
Churchill Living, which operates more than 200 homes across the country, announced it would do a “triple offers” package in a bid to ease winter worries for pensioners looking to downsize.
Their website states: “At a time when many over 60s are concerned about covering their heating bills this winter, Churchill Living has introduced a new initiative to help ease the winter worries of those who make a move this winter.
“We’re launching our triple offers – stamp duty paid, Winter Fuel Allowance paid for the next five years and autumn price reductions.”
Churchill’s new initiative will see the developer pay a Winter Fuel Allowance of £300 annually for the next five years for anyone buying a new apartment before February 28, 2025.
The payout is only available to those who are not still receiving the Winter Fuel Allowance, namely those claiming Pension Credit or another eligible benefit.
The payout is only available to those who are not still receiving the Winter Fuel Allowance
GETTY
The first £300 payment will be made at legal completion, with subsequent payments in October each year for five years, and payments will discontinue if the buyer no longer permanently occupies the property.
The company’s spokesman explained: “Very recently we have started offering a payment which is the equivalent of the Winter Fuel Payment as it is a fact that many older people have come to rely on that lump sum each year.”
The spokesman added that paying stamp duty costs helps reduce overall moving expenses for older people who often see it as “an unfair transaction tax.”
The announcement comes amid Liz Kendall, Work and Pensions Secretary, explaining an additional 100,000 pensioners will face relative poverty after housing costs by 2026-27, 2028-29 and 2029-30.
The restriction of Winter Fuel Payments to only those claiming Pension Credit aims to save the public purse £1.5 billion annually.
Although it has caused much heartache and controversy, Kendall defended the policy, stating: “Means-testing winter fuel payments was not a decision this Government wanted or expected to take.
“However, we were forced to take difficult decisions to balance the books in light of the £22 billion black hole we inherited.”
Sir Keir Starmer insisted elderly Britons would still be better off due to state pension increases.
Helen Whately, Shadow work and pensions secretary criticised the move, saying: “Their Winter Fuel Payment cuts are going to plunge 100,000 pensioners into poverty in the next few years.”
Despite opposition against the change in the WFP criteria, leading experts are not 100 per cent in support of the developer even with the reimbursement of the benefit.
Sir Steve Webb, former pensions minister and consultant at LCP, called it “an interesting marketing choice.”
Baroness Ros Altmann described it as “an interesting marketing ploy and also a bit naughty” as it capitalises on Labour’s decision to scrap the universal payment.
Jeremy Leaf, a north London estate agent and former RICS chairman, cautioned potential buyers against being swayed by headline rates.
He said: “Don’t be too attracted by a headline-grabbing statement, because you might find a competing company which doesn’t pay the Winter Fuel Allowance but does charge considerably less for their service charges and other costs.”
The increased applications for Pension Credit have already led to longer waiting times for those trying to retain their Winter Fuel Payment.
Age UK criticised the Government’s confirmation that “brutally rationing Winter Fuel Payment” will increase pensioner poverty.
Caroline Abrahams, Age UK’s charity director, questioned how this had been allowed to happen and called for decisive Government action to protect vulnerable older people.
