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Hertsmere: Household Support Fund & Crisis and Resilience Fund

What Hertsmere’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

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

What Hertsmere’s scheme covers

Who qualifies: Must be a Hertsmere resident receiving Housing Benefit or the Universal Credit housing element and facing temporary financial difficulty with rent
How often: CHPs are generally short-term payments meant to give time to resolve a financial situation
How to apply: Apply by completing the online form
You will need: Needs last 2 months' bank statements, proof of debts, medical evidence, and an up-to-date rent statement
Funding period: Discretionary Housing Payments are being replaced from April 2026
Government allocation: £245,414 for 2026-27

Hertsmere Borough Council is one of 10 district councils in Hertfordshire. 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. Hertfordshire County Council was allocated £9,299,527 for 2026-27; Hertsmere Borough Council was allocated £245,414 of its own. If what you need is help with food or energy rather than rent, start with the Hertfordshire scheme.

What Hertsmere itself says

Who qualifies. “You must be receiving Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit”
How often. “CHPs are generally short term payments intended to give you time to resolve your financial situation”
How to apply. “To apply for a CHP, you need to complete our online form”
You will need. “your last 2 months bank statements for all accounts, showing all transactions”
Funding period. “From April 2026, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are being replaced”

Quoted from Hertsmere’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 Hertsmere’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 Hertsmere scheme page

Source: Hertsmere 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

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.
Crisis Loans — what replaced them, and where to apply now.

Not in Hertsmere?

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: High Peak, Nottinghamshire, Wychavon — see all 141.

Find your council by postcode

Not in Hertsmere? 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 Hertsmere 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.