The Household Support Fund provides short-term urgent financial help to residents who are struggling to afford household essentials.
Funding for this scheme is provided by the Department for Work & Pensions. You can find out more about the Household Support Fund and other help available on the GOV.UK website.
You can make one application per household up until 30 September 2024.
Applications close on 30 September 2024.
The fund covers:
- gas and electricity
- food
- home essentials (for example, white goods)
The fund does not cover:
- debt repayments
- cash payments
- rent or housing costs
- non-urgent items such as televisions and some furniture
How you receive funds
The fund does not provide cash payments or make payments in to your bank account. Instead, where support is approved, we either:
- pay suppliers directly (for example, for energy)
- issue vouchers
To apply
You must:
- be a Hounslow resident
- be over 16 years old and living independently of parents or carers
- have not received help from the fund within the last six months
You do not need to be receiving benefits to apply. Any existing benefits payments do not affect your eligibility for the fund.
Apply for the Household Support Fund
If you can't apply online yourself
You will need to ask someone for help. You can either:
- ask a family member, friend, neighbour, or support worker to help you complete the application or apply on your behalf
- ask your carer to help you complete the application, or to apply on your behalf
- visit your local library, where you can use one of their public computers or access free Wi-Fi to use your own device
If you can't do any of these things, you can seek help and advice from:
- Citizens Advice (phone 0808 278 7830)
- Crosslight (phone 0207 052 0318)
- StepChange Debt Charity
If you need further assistance, you can email us cscenquiries@hounslow.gov.uk.
After you've applied
We will review your application and let you know if it's been approved. If it is, we will advise what funding we will provide and how you will receive it.
We aim to review requests within five working days.
Please note, items such as white goods and furniture depend on availability and can take two weeks or more to be delivered.
Fraudulent claims
If an applicant makes a false declaration or provides false evidence, they may have committed an offence under the Theft Act 1968.
We will investigate when we suspect fraud may have occurred. This may lead to criminal proceedings.
