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Durham: Household Support Fund & Crisis and Resilience Fund

What Durham’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

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

What Durham’s scheme covers

Covers: Crisis payments (food, energy, emergencies); heating oil payments when the tank is 30% or lower; settlement grants (beds, furniture, white goods, flooring, curtains, removals); housing payments for rent shortfalls
Status: not stated (confirmed 10 September 2026)
Funding period: 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029
What you get: May include a cash award, among other forms of support
Who qualifies: For low income households; every application is individually assessed on household income, essential expenditure, accessible capital, needs and underlying issues
How to apply: Apply for Crisis and Resilience funding online via the council's online portal
You will need: Recent bank statements and proof of income; for heating oil help, a screenshot/photo of the oil gauge, last delivery invoice and a recent quote for a minimum oil delivery
Not covered: Support is intended for when a household does not have enough resources to cope with an immediate crisis without incurring unmanageable debt
Government allocation: £10,079,570 for 2026-27

Policy document 'Crisis and Resilience Fund Policy 2026/27' published

Before you apply

Use the right route. Online; housing payments via housing providers
Check it is still open. not stated We confirmed this on 10 September 2026.

Only what Durham states on its own page. Other councils ask for more — see what they have in common.

What Durham itself says

How to apply. “Apply for Crisis and Resilience funding online”
Not covered. “when a household does not have sufficient resources to cope with the immediate crisis without incurring unmanageable debt”

Quoted from Durham’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 Durham’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 Durham scheme page

Source: Durham County 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

DWP phone numbers — which line to call, and for what.
Borrowing while on benefits — what it costs and what it does to your award.
Crisis Loans — what replaced them, and where to apply now.
Help with energy bills — grants and supplier schemes.

Not in Durham?

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: East Hampshire, Leeds, Tandridge — see all 141.

Find your council by postcode

Not in Durham? 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 Durham County 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.