Housing Payments

Apply for a Housing Payment 

Discretionary Housing Payments will come to an end in England on 31 March 2026. From 1 April 2026, Discretionary Housing Payments will be replaced by Housing Payments.

Housing Payments are part of the Crisis and Resilience Fund and can be awarded where an applicant requires short term financial assistance with housing costs. We will consider making a Housing Payment award where a household faces a financial shock, and these financial difficulties are causing exceptional hardship or putting a home at risk.  It is a limited fund and unfortunately, we cannot help everyone. 

We always expect that all reasonable steps are being taken to claim any income and benefits entitlements and to be taking reasonable steps to reduce expenditure.

We can only consider an application for Housing Payment if you have been awarded 

  • Housing Benefit (HB) or
  • Universal Credit (UC) that includes housing costs element

 

Housing Payments can cover:

  • Shortfalls in rent because of restrictions to Housing Benefit or Universal Credit housing costs
  • Rent arrears that accrued during a period of award of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit housing costs
  • Rent deposits or rent in advance
  • Costs associated with moving to more suitable accommodation.

 

Housing Payments cannot cover:

  • Either HB or UC has been suspended.
  • If there are any sanctions and reductions in benefit entitlement.
  • There is a shortfall between benefit awarded and rent due resulting from:
    • support or service charges that are ineligible for housing benefit.
    • shortfalls caused by overpayment recovery.
  • Increases in rent for outstanding rent arrears.
  • Ineligible service charges
  • Household expenses such as gas, electricity, food and travel
  • Household goods such as furniture, carpets, fridges, cookers etc
  • Council Tax payments
  • Mortgage Costs
  • The Housing Payment budget for the financial year has been exceeded.

 

If you need help with non-rent related costs please visit Derbyshire County Council Derbyshire Discretionary Fund (DDF) - Derbyshire County Council

You are strongly advised to seek help to find a long-term solution to meeting the gap. There is no guarantee that we will be able to help you now, or in the future. Citizens Advice Bureau can offer advice with budgeting and other solutions Contact Citizens Advice Bureau

Note : we can only process applications that are related to residency within South Derbyshire District Council. You can find your local council by entering your postcode here: Find your local council - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Help us to make the decision quickly by supplying all your evidence with your claim. Read about evidence you might need and why