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Braintree: Household Support Fund & Crisis and Resilience Fund

What Braintree’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

Braintree District 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; Braintree’s own page (linked below) is the authority and the current position.

What Braintree’s scheme covers

What you get: Paid to the tenant or directly to the landlord
Who qualifies: Braintree resident paying rent, on Housing Benefit or UC housing element
How often: Short-term help, not usually long-term
How to apply: Email or phone the Benefits Team
You will need: Address, reason for applying, and proof of UC housing element or Housing Benefit
Not covered: Cannot cover service charges, rent-arrears increases, sanctions or suspended benefits
Funding period: District-administered until 31 March 2028, using DHP approach from 1 April 2026
Government allocation: £205,562 for 2026-27

Braintree District Council is one of 12 district councils in Essex. 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. Essex County Council was allocated £16,866,968 for 2026-27; Braintree District Council was allocated £205,562 of its own. If what you need is help with food or energy rather than rent, start with the Essex scheme.

What Braintree itself says

What you get. “The payment may go to you or directly to your landlord”
Who qualifies. “you live in Braintree District”
How often. “It is not meant to support you long-term, but we may help for longer in exceptional cases”
How to apply. “Email benefits@braintree.gov.uk or ring Benefits Team on 01376 557852”
You will need. “full and address and reason you are applying and confirmation that you are in receipt Universal Credit that includes a housing element or Housing benefit”
Not covered. “service charges that benefits do not cover”
Funding period. “will continue to be managed by district councils until 31 March 2028. From 1 April 2026, we will assess CRF Housing Payments using the same approach currently used for Discretionary Housing Payments”

Quoted from Braintree’s own 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 Braintree’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 Braintree scheme page

Source: Braintree District 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

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.
Borrowing while on benefits — what it costs and what it does to your award.

Not in Braintree?

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: Bristol, Epsom And Ewell, Rossendale — see all 141.

Find your council by postcode

Not in Braintree? 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 Braintree District 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.