The most accessible and by far the most costly programme in the 2000s was the gas price subsidy, which was available on a universal basis. It was independent of income for all residential gas consumers whose annual consumption did not exceed a maximum which was quite high, and the level of support also had only two categories depending on the level of consumption. The majority of gas-consuming households, at least 3.1 million, received support. Retired and multi-children households could also receive additional district heating and gas price subsidies.