Household Support Fund

Lancaster City Council has received funding from the Department for Work and Pensions to enable us to support those most in need with the significant rise in the cost of living. This scheme is being run in partnership with North Lancashire Citizens Advice.

The aim of this scheme is to provide longer term support to our residents who are struggling financially.

Please note that subject to demand and availability, this scheme may be suspended to new applications at any point.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the scheme residents must be:

Aged 16 or over.
A current resident of the Lancaster District.
Experiencing financial hardship and struggling to afford essential items.
Be willing to engage with North Lancashire Citizens Advice and Lancaster City Council.
Have not received support from the Household Support Fund within the past 6 month period or have already received support throughout Round 7 (April 1^st 2025 – March 31^st 2026)

Application procedure

Complete our short online form (or call 01524 582000 and press option 7 if you are unable to complete the form yourself)
You must provide at least one month of recent bank statements for all open bank / savings accounts held by adults within the household and a full breakdown of your Universal Credit statement if applicable. Please provide these as part of your application, or by email to hsf@lancaster.gov.uk, as a PDF attachment (please see our FAQs below)
The application will be reviewed and details checked against our system to ensure that all information provided is accurate, a previous application has not been submitted in the past 6 months, and we have all the correct documentation. If not, we will contact you to request further information.
Once your application is completed, we will pass your details to Citizens' Advice for them to arrange a telephone appointment with an advisor.
If the required documents have not been provided, we cannot proceed with your application. All applications will be closed 10 working days from the application date if the documents are not provided. If you are having difficulty providing the required documents, please see our FAQ page below.
You can also provide your financial information directly at Morecambe Town Hall or Lancaster Town Hall Monday to Friday 9am - 4.30pm.

Assessment

As part of the assessment the advisor will:

Carry out a debt assessment and benefit check to identify debts they can support with and ensure you are receiving all the income and benefits to which you may be entitled to.
Make requests to the Household Support Fund for short term support.
Carry out more in-depth follow-up appointments where required.

Any support through the Household Support Fund for essential items will be processed after your appointment with Citizens Advice as they will provide their recommendations to the council.

What support is available?

The types of short term support the fund can help with include:

Utility bills
Food
Household appliances
Housing costs
Other essential items

Apply Here

The Household Support Fund cannot provide immediate financial relief / support. If you need urgent food support, please contact us on 01524 582000 (Option 7) for a food parcel or email hsf@lancaster.gov.uk with your contact information.

Below is also a link to the food support available within the district and a link to the LDCVS directory detailing other available support within the district.

Food Support

LDCVS Directory

Please note:

Households will only be able to submit one application between April 1^st 2025 -March 31^st 2026. Applications submitted by households who have received support within this period or within the previous 6 months will be closed and notified.
Please do not chase up your application within the first week of it being placed, we will be in touch with you to confirm or request any details as soon as we can.
Any applications that are submitted without the required financial documents will not be processed until this has been received. All applications will be closed 10 working days from the application date if the documents are not provided.
All documents must be supplied in a readable format, multiple screenshots will not be accepted, and new documents will be requested.
If you pay your energy bill by direct debit, we will require a copy of the front and back page of your most recent bill showing:
- balance owed
- account number
- confirmation of what type of meter you have installed
If you pay your energy bill on Pre-Payment meters we will need a statement of top ups from the provider.
If you have arrears on your energy bills we will require a copy of the bill showing the arrears, payments you have made towards these arrears and payment details for your supplier
If you have not heard from us and you believe all your information has been submitted, please email hsf@lancaster.gov.uk or call 01524 582000 and select option 7.
Evidence of any gambling on bank statements provided will be investigated further as awards may not be made where there is evidence of gambling.
For details on how Lancaster City Council uses your data, see our HSF privacy notice.

Household Support Fund FAQs

What documents do I need to supply?

You will need to provide at least one month of recent bank statements for all adults within the household. Alongside this we will also need a full breakdown of your universal credit statement.

For any support with Utilities we will also require:

If you pay your energy bill by direct debit we will require a copy of the front and back page of your most recent bill showing:

balance owed
account number
confirmation of what type of meter you have installed

If you pay your energy bill on Pre-Payment meters we will need a statement of top ups from the provider.

If you have arrears on your energy bills we will require a copy of the bill showing the arrears, payments you have made towards these arrears and payment details for your supplier

If you need help with obtaining your bank statement, click here. (PDF, 410KB)

How do I provide a Universal Credit Statement?

If you receive part of your income from Universal Credit, we will need to see evidence of this. If you're unsure on how to get a statement for this, please follow the steps below:

1. Log in to your Universal Credit account here.

2. Go to the Payments page.

3. Click on the latest statement.

4. The statement will appear on your screen.

5. You can then select the option to 'Print to PDF' or 'Save as PDF'

How do I provide the financial documents?

The best way to do this is to upload the documents through the application or if you are unable to do this email through to hsf@lancaster.gov.uk.

You can also provide your financial information directly at Morecambe Town Hall or Lancaster Town Hall Monday to Friday 9am - 4.30pm.

Can I appeal a decision if my application is unsuccessful?

As this is a discretionary scheme there is no right of appeal. However, if you think we have overlooked important information then you can ask for us to look at the application again by emailing hsf@lancaster.gov.uk providing reasons along with your name, address and reference number.

This decision will be final.

How long will my application take?

Applicants can expect to be contacted within 10 working days of submitting a fully completed application containing all the required information. Please do not chase up your application within this time frame. Citizens Advice will then contact you to arrange an appointment that suits yourself. Once this has been completed, we will aim to ensure any support is distributed within 5 working days of the assessment.

Do I have to have an assessment over the phone?

If you would like to have an appointment that is in person for any reason, please specify this on the notes section of your application and we can see what can be done for you.

Can I apply if I have already applied to the Lancaster District Hardship Fund or a previous round of Household Support Fund?

Applications can be submitted if you have previously applied to either of the previous rounds of support.

We are unable to accept an application if you have received support within the previous 6 month period.

Only one application will be considered throughout Round 7 (April 1^st 2025 -March 31^st 2026)

All re-applications will consider the level of support you have already received and whether you fully engaged with Citizens Advice before a decision is made on any new applications. If there has not been engagement with support that has been offered we may request this to be done prior to accepting the application.

Can I apply more than once?

We will only accept one application per household. If you or someone else has applied already from your household the support will have been offered with all residents of the address in mind.

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Household Support Fund

Household Support Fund

Apply Here

Household Support Fund FAQs

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