The Household Support Fund sets aside a pot of cash for local councils, who then distribute the funding to residents on low incomes, or who are vulnerable, or in need of financial support
Households have been given a new date for when they can apply for a new round of £200 cost of living payments. The cash is available for Birmingham residents as part of the Household Support Fund scheme.
The scheme sets aside a pot of cash for local councils, who then distribute the funding to residents on low incomes, or who are vulnerable, or in need of financial support. Each council can decide what type of help to offer, but it usually comes in the form of vouchers for energy or supermarket shops, one-off cash grants that don’t need to be paid back, or sometimes free appliances.
The Household Support Fund has been extended seven times now, and its latest round of funding reopened in April 2025 and will be available until April 2026. Birmingham City Council will be distributing grants of up to £200 to eligible households who are currently facing financial hardship.
Applications are currently closed but will reopen in June 2025. If you have already completed the enquiry form, then you will be on the waiting list and will be contacted within the next six to eight weeks to complete your full application. But completing the enquiry form does not mean that you are definitely entitled to receive a payment – your eligibility will still be checked.
You will be eligible if:
- You are a Birmingham Resident
- You are experiencing financial hardship, in particular with covering food and energy costs
- Your household has not have received a £200 grant payment in the last 12 months
A message on the Birmingham Voluntary Service Council website reads: “Please be advised that enquiries will reopen in June 2025. If you are not currently on the waiting list, and it has now been 12 months since your household last received a grant payment, you will be able to submit a new enquiry once the scheme reopens in June 2025.”
Further details on the website reads: “Please be advised that each household is only eligible to receive one £200 grant payment in a 12-month period. e.g. If you received a £200 payment on 28th February 2024, you cannot make another application until 1st March 2025. Any enquiry submitted before your eligibility date will be rejected.
“The application system actively monitors submitted applications looking for signs of fraud and details of any attempts to make fraudulent applications and/or fraudulently receive grant funding may be shared with West Midlands Police. Receiving a grant from this fund will not impact on any other benefits you may be receiving or may be entitled to.”
If you’re not a Birmingham resident, check your local council website to see what help you could potentially be offered. Previous examples of Household Support Fund scheme by council include people living in Herefordshire being given £300 if they provide more than 35 hours of care each week.
Portsmouth Council was giving eligible residents cash payments, supermarket vouchers or a combination of both, worth up to £1,000, for people in “severe financial hardship” and earning below certain income thresholds. Solihull residents were awarded help worth £500 to pay off water and energy debts.
You needed to have a combined annual household income of under £31,000, have no household savings, except for if you’re a pensioner, then you can have up to £5,000 in savings. You must have had someone living in the household with a vulnerability and be in receipt of a qualifying benefit.
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