Household Support Fund

This form is an application for awards from the Household Support Fund (HSF) covering the period from 1st October 2024 to 31st March 2025.

The HSF is funded by Government and provides one-off awards to support vulnerable households with essential costs, such as energy, food, and water.

Only one application is permitted per household at any given time (*a household includes all adults and children that live in the same property).

The HSF is discretionary, and each application will be strictly assessed against the Council’s eligibility criteria detailed in the next section.

The HSF if strictly limited and will not be available beyond 31st March 2025. The Council reserves the right to close this scheme earlier than this date once all funds are used..

If you require information or advice regarding benefits, debt advice, employment opportunities, or housing matters, we strongly encourage you to visit www. costofliving.redbridge.gov.uk (opens in new window) and www.gov.uk/cost-of-living for further guidance (opens in new window).

Information / evidence required

Please be prepared with the information and evidence listed below which will assist you in completing this application.

We are unable to process any applications or make any awards without this information and evidence.

Information:

• Income from all adults over the age of 18 residing in the household
• Debts

Evidence:

Proof of ID

One of : -

• Passport
• Driver’s Licence
• National Identity Card
• Home Office Biometric Card/Letter

Proof of Address

One of : -

• Council Tax Bill
• Gas
• Electricity
• Water

Proof of income

• Last three months Bank Statement(s) demonstrating all income sources in the household and showing the opening and closing balances.
• Last five weekly or two monthly Payslips for anyone in the household who is working. If self-employed a copy of the latest accounts.

Utility Bills

Where applicable, please provide utility bills for gas, electricity and water for the last 3 months.

Save and Continue

Please click on the save and continue button located at the bottom of each page to complete this application at a later time.

We will require all applicants to provide evidence for certain categories of support being requested, including gas, electricity, water, transport costs and phone/broadband costs. Documents can be uploaded in the next section.

The Household Support Fund is discretionary and there is no guarantee that all financial support that is being requested will be awarded. Any awards made are a contribution towards the household expenses.

Awards will be determined by the Household Support Fund Team based on the household’s personal, household and financial circumstances.

We encourage residents to register at the Ilford Community Grocery Store. Annual registration is £5. Each shop costs £5 and provides residents with 12 items of food and household essentials worth over £20. Visit Community Grocery Ilford (opens in new window) for further information.

To help us make sure our policies meet the needs of all our communities, we ask that you complete the questions below. This is entirely optional and will be used for monitoring purposes only.

This application and all documents related to this application will be treated in line with the GDPR Act 2018 and may be shared within the authority and with other authorities. Any data deemed to be 'sensitive personal data' under the GDPR Act 2018 will only be disclosed to third parties as necessary for the operation and administration of the scheme and to other organisations where necessary to establish entitlement or otherwise as required by law.

This authority may make enquiries about the information needed to support the application and to prevent fraud. If you receive Household Support Fund payments by providing incorrect details or not giving us full details or providing false information you could be prosecuted.

Please read all the points carefully and make sure you understand them before submitting this form.

• I declare that the information I have given on this form is correct and complete.
• I understand that if I knowingly give information that is incorrect or incomplete, I may be liable to prosecution or other action.
• I understand that I must promptly tell the authority of any further information which may affect the outcome of my application which I become aware of after it has been made.
• I understand that I must tell the authority straightaway if I have a change of circumstances which may affect my application.
• I understand that I must provide any supporting evidence requested from me within one month of the date that I submit this claim, otherwise my claim may not be fully determined.