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Ashford: Household Support Fund & Crisis and Resilience Fund

What Ashford’s local crisis scheme covers, how to apply, and whether it was open when we checked.

Written by the benefitmoney.co.uk editorial team · Last reviewed 14 September 2026

Ashford Borough Council runs its local crisis help as the Crisis and Resilience Fund. It is a grant — not a loan: help with essentials, nothing to repay. This is a summary; Ashford’s own page (linked below) is the authority and the current position.

What Ashford’s scheme covers

Award: Housing payment capped at your weekly rent liability
What you get: Can cover ongoing rent, rent in advance, deposit or removal costs
Who qualifies: Entitled to Housing Benefit or Universal Credit with a housing costs element
How often: Short-term award only, not long-term support
How to apply: Apply online, or send evidence by upload, email or post
You will need: Bank statements and an up-to-date landlord rent statement
Not covered: Excludes ineligible service charges, benefit sanctions, and shortfalls from overpayment recovery
Government allocation: £226,544 for 2026-27

Ashford Borough Council is one of 12 district councils in Kent. In a two-tier area the county council runs crisis payments and the district runs the housing side of the fund — rent shortfalls, a deposit, rent in advance. Kent County Council was allocated £20,169,772 for 2026-27; Ashford Borough Council was allocated £226,544 of its own. If what you need is help with food or energy rather than rent, start with the Kent scheme.

What Ashford itself says

Award. “Housing Payments cannot be greater than what you're responsible to pay for your weekly rent”
What you get. “Rental liability (ongoing rent), Rent in advance, Tenancy deposit, Removal or relocation costs, Other lump-sum payments essential for securing or preventing homelessness”
Who qualifies. “Housing Benefit (HB), or Universal Credit (UC) with an element for housing costs, including Shared Ownership properties with a rental liability”
How often. “They are not long-term payments. They are awarded on a short-term basis while you take action to improve your circumstances”
How to apply. “by uploading it on our website, by email to benefits@ashford.gov.uk or by post”
You will need. “recent bank statements for all accounts held by you and your partner (if you have one)”
Not covered. “Ineligible service charges, Sanctions and reductions in benefit under regulations 100 to 114 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013, shortfalls caused by Housing Benefit and/or Universal Credit overpayment recovery”

Quoted from Ashford’s own page↗ and its application page↗, checked 14 September 2026. Nothing on this page is paraphrased into a rule the council has not published. The government allocation is from Annex A of the Crisis and Resilience Fund grant determination 2026 to 2027↗.

Apply on Ashford’s website

Applications are made on the council’s own site — this page collects nothing. If the link has moved, search the council site for “crisis and resilience”, then “household support”, then “welfare assistance”.

Open the Ashford scheme page

Source: Ashford Borough Council — Crisis and Resilience Fund. Opened 10 September 2026.

Where this money comes from

Central government funds it; the council sets the rules. A payment does not affect your benefits. How the fund works nationally.

Other help you may qualify for

White-goods grants — a broken fridge, cooker or washing machine.
Budgeting Advance or Budgeting Loan — interest-free from the DWP.
Credit union loans — the cheapest borrowing, capped at 3% a month.
DWP phone numbers — which line to call, and for what.

Not in Ashford?

See the other councils we have checked, or find yours via GOV.UK’s Get help with the cost of living from your local council↗.

Outside England the scheme has a different name: the Scottish Welfare Fund in Scotland, the Discretionary Assistance Fund in Wales, and Discretionary Support in Northern Ireland.

Recently checked elsewhere: Barnsley, Dudley, Preston — see all 141.

Find your council by postcode

Not in Ashford? Enter a postcode and we will point you at the right council’s Crisis and Resilience Fund page.

We look the postcode up with the free postcodes.io service to find your local authority. Nothing you type is stored.

This page is independent. It is not run by Ashford Borough Council, the Department for Work and Pensions or GOV.UK. Council schemes change without notice; the council’s own page is always the current position.