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Burnley: Household Support Fund & Crisis and Resilience Fund

What Burnley’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

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

What Burnley’s scheme covers

What you get: General crisis support (food, energy, travel, essentials) and separate housing support for rent shortfalls/deposits
Who qualifies: Assessed individually against the council's Crisis and Resilience Fund policy
How to apply: Online request form; email benefits@burnley.gov.uk for the Housing Payment strand
Not covered: Housing Payment strand excludes shortfalls from arrears/court costs, ineligible service charges, non-rent bills, and cases already on full housing benefit
Government allocation: £182,420 for 2026-27

Burnley Borough Council is one of 12 district councils in Lancashire. 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. Lancashire County Council was allocated £17,693,881 for 2026-27; Burnley Borough Council was allocated £182,420 of its own. If what you need is help with food or energy rather than rent, start with the Lancashire scheme.

What Burnley itself says

What you get. “food, energy, emergency travel, or essential household items”
Who qualifies. “Each application is assessed based on individual circumstances and eligibility, in line with the local authority's Crisis and Resilience Fund policy”
How to apply. “Apply for a Crisis and Resilience Fund – Housing Payment”
Not covered. “The shortfall is due to additional amounts being charged for arrears and/or court costs”

Quoted from Burnley’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 Burnley’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 Burnley scheme page

Source: Burnley 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

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 Burnley?

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: Cannock Chase, Fylde, Sandwell — see all 141.

Find your council by postcode

Not in Burnley? 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 Burnley 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.