Further information on household costs covered by grant fund

The Household Support Fund (HSF) is expected to support vulnerable households with energy and water bills, food, and wider essentials.

It may include spend on the following 5 categories.

Food

The HSF should primarily be used to provide support with food whether in kind or through vouchers or cash.

Energy and water

The HSF should also mainly be used to support with energy bills for any form of fuel that is used for the purpose of domestic heating, cooking or lighting, including oil or portable gas cylinders.

It can also be used to support with water bills including for drinking, washing, cooking, and sanitary purposes and sewerage.

Essentials linked to energy and water

The HSF 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 HSF can be used to support 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 HSF 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 HSF.

In addition, eligibility for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) must first be considered before emergency housing support is offered through the HSF.

The authority must also first consider whether the claimant is at statutory risk of homelessness and therefore owed a duty of support through the Homelessness Prevention Grant (HPG).