Household costs covered by the grant fund
The Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) is expected to support vulnerable households with energy and water bills, food, and wider essentials.
It may include spending on the following 5 categories.
Food
The CRF should primarily be used to provide support with food, whether in kind or through vouchers or cash.
Energy and water
The CRF should also mainly be used to help with energy bills for any form of fuel used for domestic heating, cooking, or lighting, including oil or portable gas cylinders.
It can also be used to help with water bills, including for drinking, washing, cooking, and sanitary purposes and sewerage.
Essentials linked to energy and water
The CRF can be used to provide support with essentials linked to energy and water, including:
- sanitary products
- warm clothing
- soap
- blankets
- boiler service/repair
- purchase of equipment, including fridges, freezers and ovens
This is in recognition that a range of costs may arise which directly affect a household’s ability to afford or access food, energy and water.
Wider essentials
The CRF can be used to help with wider essential needs not linked to energy and water, should authorities consider this appropriate in their area.
These may include, but are not limited to:
- support with other bills, including broadband or phone bills
- clothing
- essential transport-related costs such as repairing a car, buying a bicycle or paying for fuel.
This list is not exhaustive.
Housing costs
In exceptional cases of genuine emergency where existing housing support schemes do not meet this exceptional need, the CRF can be used to support housing costs.
Where eligible, ongoing housing support for rent must be provided through the housing cost element of Universal Credit (UC) and Housing Benefit (HB) rather than the CRF.
In addition, eligibility for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) must first be considered before emergency housing support is offered through the CRF.
We first consider whether you are at statutory risk of homelessness and therefore owe a duty of support under the Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG).
Page last updated: 1 June 2026
