Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support
Crisis Resilience Fund Housing Payments and Council Tax Support Exceptional Hardship Payments
Crisis Resilience Fund Housing Payments and Council Tax Support Exceptional hardship payments
The former Discretionary Housing Payment scheme came to end in England on the 31st of March 2026; from the 1st of April 2026, Discretionary Housing Payments will be replaced by the Housing Payment strand of the Crisis Resilience Fund. The Crisis Resilience Fund Housing Payment scheme will closely replicate former Discretionary Housing Payments guidelines and policy.
Crisis Resilience Fund Housing Payments are payments that the Council may be able to make to give you further assistance towards your rent or other housing costs e.g. rent in advance or removal fees.
To be eligible for a Crisis Resilience Fund Housing Payment you must be in receipt of Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit for the period that you wish to claim a Crisis Resilience Fund Housing Payment.
Other than the eligibility outlined above, there are no qualifying criteria as such, but you must submit a Crisis Resilience Fund Housing Payment application form and provide all requested proofs and information to Hyndburn Borough Council.
Whether entitlement to a Crisis Resilience Fund Housing Payment will be granted, for how much and for how long will be decided by the Council at the Council’s discretion and each application will be considered on its own merits.
Crisis Resilience Fund Housing Payments are awarded for a fixed period of time, once the award period has ended a new application must be made for a new period.
Payments can be made directly to the claimant or landlord.
As these payments are made at the Local Authority’s discretion, there is no formal right of appeal to the Tribunal Service against a decision on a claim, but we have our own internal review process, and you can write to us to request that the decision is looked at again.
To apply for a Crisis Resilience Fund Housing Payment or to view the Councils Crisis Resilience Fund Housing Payment policy, please use this link form.
Please note that Crisis Resilience Fund Housing Payments are made from a limited fund funded by the UK Government, therefore if there are no funds left e.g. at the end of the financial year, a Crisis Resilience Fund Housing Payment will not be paid.
Council Tax Support Exceptional hardship payment
Council Tax Support Exceptional Hardship payments are payments that we may be able to make to give you further assistance towards your Council tax, to be eligible you must be in receipt of Council tax support for the period that you wish to claim Council Tax Support Exceptional Hardship Payments for.
The Council has established the Council Tax Support Exceptional Hardship Fund to aid those who are awarded Council Tax Support and who are facing exceptional financial hardship.
The limited fund has been created to provide further financial assistance where an applicant is in receipt of Council Tax Support which does not meet their full Council Tax liability.
To apply for a Council Tax Support Exceptional Hardship payment or to view the Council’s Council Tax Support Exceptional Hardship policy, please use this link.