More than 830,000 low-income households will not benefit from extra support announced by John Healey at last week's Budget, a new analysis has found.

In a bid to help Brits facing soaring energy costs, the Chancellor splurged £2.6billion on payments of £100 for up to 20 million households in council tax bands A to D.

Mr Healey said the action - partly-funded by a fresh raid on banks - would 'take the pressure off in the coldest months and see people through to the Spring'.

But campaigners have expressed concerns the measure is badly targeted and too small to protect households from the huge energy costs rise predicted for January.

Ofgem's price cap rose by 3.6 per cent to £1,723 for a typical household on October 1, with a further rise of about 22 per cent forecast in the New Year.

The £100 handout is also likely to pour more money into the North and Midlands than the South East, where the proportion of homes in council tax bands A to D is lower.

The Government's own estimates state the £100 payment will reach only 88 per cent of households in the bottom three income deciles, and 83 per cent of 'fuel-stressed' households.

An analysis by the Policy In Practice think tank found 838,000 households currently claiming Council Tax support will not benefit from the extra help announced by Mr Healey.

The study was based on administrative data in a representative sample of local authorities using the Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT) analytics platform.

'Council tax bands are an imperfect proxy for household needs,' the think tank said.

'Low-income households can live in larger, higher-band properties, and often have little choice over the size or band of property they're allocated.

'And increasingly, several families or generations share a home to manage costs.'

Policy in Practice found a low-income family of five or more individuals is 1.6 times more likely to live in a property in council tax band E-H, compared to an average low-income household. 

This means that over 130,000 larger, low-income households will miss out this winter, it said.

Deven Ghelani, the director of Policy in Practice, said: 'Over 800,000 low-income families are going to be missing out on this vital relief from high energy bills.

'Millions of people are [also] missing out on over £24billion of [wider] support that is going unclaimed each year because of low awareness, administrative complexity and stigma.'

He added this was 'shocking at the best of times, but unforgivable in a cost of living crisis' and urged ministers to do more to help people access support. 

Policy in Practice found 84 per cent of households that won't qualify for the £100 handout live with a disabled person, have children or are below the poverty line.

Lower-income households are also less likely to pay their bills through direct debit, which means they will not be paid the money automatically, the think tank added.

It warned that many low-income households are overdrawn, meaning a payment designed to go towards energy costs will merely go towards existing debt.

In his Budget, Mr Healey also announced the scrapping of standing charges on gas bills, while the Government is providing £100million for local councils to provide discretionary support.

But Ruth Curtice, chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, has been among those to criticise the Chancellor's measures as 'terribly badly targeted' in the face of 'really catastrophic forecasts for living standards'.

She said it was 'a relatively small Budget and arguably one that did not live up to the scale of the challenges that Britain faces'. 

A Government spokesman said: 'Tackling the affordability crisis is our priority, which is why we're giving families immediate breathing space.

'Millions of households will receive £100 towards their energy costs from January, alongside action to make bills fairer, including removing standing charges from gas bills and supporting those in energy debt.'