From 1 April 2026, you may be able to apply for a crisis and resilience fund housing payment (CRF housing payment) if you receive housing benefit or housing element of Universal Credit and need short term additional help with rent or moving costs.
CRF housing payment is replacing discretionary housing payments from 1 April 2026.
CRF housing payment provides short-term temporary financial assistance towards housing costs, giving you time to make longer term arrangements to meet your ongoing housing needs. Payments cannot exceed the eligible rent used to calculate housing benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit.
A person must be in receipt of housing benefit or Universal Credit with the housing element when applying for this type of payment.
What the payment can cover
- reductions in housing benefit or Universal Credit
- rent deposits or rent in advance (applications must be made before signing a tenancy and moving in)
- moving costs (applications must be made before moving)
CRF housing payments are not the same as housing benefit or Universal Credit. They are special payments, which come from a separate cash limited fund.
Apply for a CRF housing payment
You can apply for a CRF housing payment online.
Apply for a CRF housing payment
Apply for a CRF housing payment and exceptional hardship payment form
To speed up the application process please ensure you attach all supporting evidence as detailed on the application form when making your claim.
What the payment cannot cover
- service charges not covered by housing benefit or Universal Credit
- rent increases due to outstanding rent arrears.
- certain sanctions and reductions in benefit
- shortfalls in housing benefit/Universal Credit housing element caused by recovery of overpayments
- if you have no recourse to public funds you would not be eligible for CRF housing payment
How we decide who gets a CRF housing payment
There are no set criteria for deciding whether you can have a CRF housing payment other than that you must be in receipt of housing benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit and you must .
Each application is treated on its own merits. We will consider things like:
- the amount you get in housing benefit or Universal Credit (housing costs element) and the amount you must pay
- any efforts you have made to reduce your rent
- your financial and medical circumstances and of anyone who lives with you
- your income and expenditure and of anyone who lives with you
- your savings and investments and any held by anyone else living with you
- if you have any exceptional circumstances
- the amount of money we have available in the fund when we consider your application
- any other special situations
The amount of the CRF housing payment and the period of the award
We will let you know how much we have awarded and the period we have given it to you for.
You may not get as much as you need to pay your full rent. The award may not be for as long as you would like.
The CRF housing payment fund is meant to help with short term emergencies. If you get an award there is no guarantee that another award will be made later even if your circumstances have not changed.
If I don’t get an award or my award has ended, can I apply again?
If you are refused an award or have been awarded a CRF housing payment and the award has ended, you can make a new application. This will not guarantee an award as your claim will still have to go through the decision-making process.
I don’t agree with your decision, what do I do?
There is no right of appeal to an independent tribunal. However, you can ask us to look at our decision again and another decision maker will look at your application.
You can ask for a review if:
- we have refused your award, or
- we have awarded a reduced amount, or
- we have told you we have overpaid you