Struggling households on low incomes can get up to £500 free cash to help with food, fuel and essentials
KINGSTON Council is dishing out support to those who need it the most
Up to £500 from the Household Support Fund (HSF) will be handed out to struggling low-income residents in the south-west London suburb.
The extra cash will serve as a top up for Kingston residents struggling to afford basics including food, fuel and utility bills.
The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) are offering the funding between April 1 and September 30 this year.
Those classed as eligible will need to meet at least one of the following criterion set by Kingston Council.
They will be supported with food and utility bills, as well as other financial strains via a voucher.
Eligibility criteria includes living in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.
Homeless people with appropriate links to the borough will fall under this category.
Criteria includes those with insufficient funds to access nutritional meals.
People with insufficient funds to be keep their home warm, electricity or gas on and access to water for cooking are also eligible.
Residents with insufficient funds to afford essentials such as food, toiletries, clothing, blankets, boiler service/repair, and access to equipment including fridges and ovens also make the cut.
As do households with an urgent housing need that can not be funded by an existing scheme like housing benefits.
How has the Household Support Fund evolved?
THE Household Support Fund was first launched in October 2021 to help Brits pay their way through winter amid the cost of living crisis.
Councils up and down the country got a slice of the £500million funding available to dish out to Brits in need.
It was then extended for a second time in the 2022 Spring Budget and for a third time in October 2022 to help those on the lowest incomes with the rising cost of living.
The DWP then confirmed a fourth extension of the scheme through to March 31, 2024.
Chancellor Jeremey Hunt extended the HSF for the fifth time while delivering his Spring Budget on March 6, 2024.
The final eligibility criterion is households with a vulnerability or community care need.
These will be assessed by council officers, voluntary sector partners and other professionals.
Council staff are advised to take other funding households may receive like Universal Credit into account to avoid duplicating existing support.
But families helped by other schemes are not automatically exempt from the HSF.
This is true if the family is classed as having “additional wider” needs in regards to food and utilities, they need other essential supplies or have individual family members not in receipt of support.
Residents are warned that the assessment to determine their suitability may take some time and an application does not guarantee funding.
The application form can be accessed at https://www.kingston.gov.uk/benefits-5/household-support-fund.
The DWP says that households who have previously been helped out by the HSF are exempt.
Applications will remain open during this window but funding is supplied on a first come first served basis.
Local authorities decide where they target funds and Kingston Council has chosen to help those struggling with high energy bills in particular.
They are also targeting struggling households with children, pensioners and people with disabilities.
The funding does not restrict to helping people with energy bills and extends to wider essential costs.
Kingston Council will support residents with housing costs in emergencies but only when they’re not eligible for existing housing support schemes.
