Apply for the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF)

Overview

The Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) provides short‑term financial help and longer‑term support if you’re on a low income and facing sudden financial difficulty. It’s funded by the government.

The fund runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029. It replaces the Household Support Fund (HSF) and Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP).

We follow a ‘no wrong door’ approach. You'll be guided to the right help even if you contact a different service first.

What the fund can help with

The fund can provide:

fast, flexible help if you’re on a low income and you are facing immediate financial hardship
advice and support to help you manage financial shock and cope better in the future
connections to local services for help with income, debt, housing and wellbeing

Support is based on your situation at the time you apply. The fund is not guaranteed and does not replace benefits such as Universal Credit.

What we mean by financial shock

A financial shock is when something unexpected makes it hard to pay for essential living costs.

This could include:

a sudden loss of income or reduced working hours
an unexpected essential bill or expense
a delay or change in benefit payments
illness, caring responsibilities or a family emergency
urgent housing issues that increase financial pressure

Our approach

As well as emergency help, the CRF aims to support you to:

build financial stability
improve budgeting and money management skills
increase household income where possible
reduce repeat crisis situations
build confidence and independence

If you apply, we may also connect you to services that offer longer‑term support.

The four parts of the fund

Crisis payments

Short‑term emergency financial support for people in immediate financial difficulty. This is to help stabilise your situation quickly.

Housing payments

Financial support for households struggling to meet their housing costs. This is to help prevent homelessness or housing instability.

To be eligible, you must be entitled to:

housing benefit, or
the housing element of Universal Credit

Resilience services

Advice and support to help:

reduce the risk of future financial crises
improve long‑term stability

This may include help with:

making sure you're getting the right income and benefits
budgeting and managing money
debt advice and reducing money worries
accessing employment, training or wellbeing support

Community coordination

We're working with voluntary and community organisations across Walsall. This is to make it easier to find and access help, and supports our ‘no wrong door’ approach.

How to apply

When the scheme has been approved, we’ll publish full details, including:

how to apply
what information you may need to provide
the types of support available
how we make decisions
how quickly we'll provide support

Help to apply

We will offer accessible ways to apply and get support, including:

help for people who are not confident using online services
support for people with disabilities or language needs
options to apply with help from a professional or support organisation