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Maidstone: Household Support Fund & Crisis and Resilience Fund

What Maidstone’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

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

What Maidstone’s scheme covers

Award: One-off £300 heating oil payment
Who qualifies: Household income under £33,000, low on heating oil, on a means-tested benefit
How to apply: Apply online; email for help completing the form
Decision: Payment sent within seven days of approval
You will need: Photo of the oil tank gauge, oil-use evidence, bank statements, payslips, benefit proof
Government allocation: £266,733 for 2026-27

Maidstone Borough Council is one of 12 district councils in Kent. 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. Kent County Council was allocated £20,169,772 for 2026-27; Maidstone Borough Council was allocated £266,733 of its own. If what you need is help with food or energy rather than rent, start with the Kent scheme.

What Maidstone itself says

Award. “a one-off payment of £300”
Decision. “we will send your payment within seven days”
You will need. “photo of your oil tank's gauge showing how much is left”

Quoted from Maidstone’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 Maidstone’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 Maidstone scheme page

Source: Maidstone 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 Maidstone?

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: Maldon, Rotherham, Bristol — see all 141.

Find your council by postcode

Not in Maidstone? 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 Maidstone 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.