Household Support Fund

The Household Support Fund (HSF) was a UK Government scheme administered by local authorities to support households experiencing financial hardship.

About the Household Support Fund

The Household Support Fund helped people with the cost of living. 

It provided support with:

  • food
  • energy bills
  • water bills
  • other essential household costs

The scheme ended on 31 March 2026.

Get help with the cost of living

If you need help with the cost of living, you can apply to the Crisis and Resilience Fund. 

You can also find other support through the Council's cost of living services.

Freedom of Information Requests 

We have published information about the fund through Freedom of Information requests (FOI). You can find these in the FOI/EIR Disclosure Log.

Use the search box to search for Household Support Fund and Crisis and Resilience Fund.

Heating Oil Support Scheme (2026)

Additional funding was made available during 2026 to support households reliant on heating oil who were experiencing financial hardship due to rising fuel costs.

How we used the funding

The tables below show how Household Support Fund money was distributed across different types of support during each funding period.

Household Support Fund 7 (April 2025 to March 2026)

The total allocation for this period was £2,683,881.90 and there were 2,039 successful applications.

Funding breakdown

Funding breakdown for April 2025 to March 2026
Delivery methodSpendPercentage
Vouchers£1,907,308.2571%
Cash awards£277,891.9710%
Third party organisations£47,863.702%
Tangible items£114,517.054%
Other in-kind support£85,344.813%
Admin £148,281.856%

Household Support Fund 6 (October 2024 to March 2025)

The total allocation for this period was £1,522,795.52 and there were 2,210 successful applications.

Funding breakdown

Funding breakdown for October 2024 to March 2025
Delivery methodSpendPercentage
Vouchers£939,555.1562%
Cash awards£218,408.8314%
Third party organisations£115,1567%
Tangible items£107,429.147%
Other in-kind support£6,839.511%
Admin £59,730.374%

Household Support Fund 5 (April 2024 to September 2024)

The total allocation for this period was £1,522,795.52 and there were 1,203 successful applications.

Funding breakdown

Funding breakdown for April 2024 to September 2024
Delivery methodSpendPercentage
Vouchers£1,256,152.3283%
Cash awards£56,2024%
Third party organisations£139,0579%
Tangible items£18,3481%
Other in-kind support£22,1031%
Admin £30,933.202%

Household Support Fund 4 (April 2023 to March 2024)

The total allocation for this period was £3,045,591 and there were 2,367 successful applications.

Funding breakdown

Funding breakdown for April 2023 to March 2024
Delivery methodSpendPercentage
Vouchers£1,671,209.4955%
Cash awards£751,530.9125%
Third party organisations£126,6884%
Tangible items£152,669.415%
Other in-kind support£69,9402%
Admin £273,533.199%