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Guildford: Household Support Fund & Crisis and Resilience Fund

What Guildford’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

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

What Guildford’s scheme covers

Who qualifies: Must already get Housing Benefit or UC housing element and be struggling to pay rent (housing payment only)
How to apply: Apply for the Housing Payment (Discretionary Housing Payment) online
Not covered: Cannot be used for Council Tax
Funding period: Housing Payment element started 1 April 2026
Government allocation: £168,897 for 2026-27

Guildford Borough Council is one of 11 district councils in Surrey. 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. Surrey County Council was allocated £7,278,801 for 2026-27; Guildford Borough Council was allocated £168,897 of its own. If what you need is help with food or energy rather than rent, start with the Surrey scheme.

What Guildford itself says

Who qualifies. “you already get Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit”
How to apply. “Apply for Discretionary Housing Payment (opens new window)”
Funding period. “The Housing Payment (HP) element of the Crisis and Resilience Fund started on 1 April 2026”

Quoted from Guildford’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 Guildford’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 Guildford scheme page

Source: Guildford 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 Guildford?

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: Hampshire, North Hertfordshire, Winchester — see all 141.

Find your council by postcode

Not in Guildford? 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 Guildford 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.