Did you know? The Housing Support Fund is still available
As part of our vision to improve the wellbeing of Arun, many of our services support those who are significantly impacted by the cost of living crisis. Working with our partners helps to ensure that Arun has a wonderful range of support services available, including:
- funding warm spaces across our community
- providing an outreach team to offer wrap around support to those who finds themselves homeless in the district
- providing direct support via the Household Support Fund (HSF)
The HSF scheme is a central government programme to support vulnerable households in need of help due to the significant increase in the cost of living. The fund is intended to cover a wide range of low-income households including families with children of all ages, pensioners, unpaid carers, care leavers, those with disabilities, larger families, single-person households, and people struggling with one-off financial shocks or unforeseen events. Arun District Council delivers the HSF scheme to support households with white goods, flooring, clothing and other wider essentials.
Eligibility includes:
- a wide range of low-income households and is not limited to those in receipt of benefits
- people with disabilities who may be facing acute challenges in managing their conditions, remaining independent and avoiding becoming socially isolated
- care leavers who face particular barriers as they leave the care system and begin to live independently
- people with caring responsibilities who may be facing acute challenges
- individuals with no recourse to public funds (regardless of immigration status, if there is a genuine care need that does not arise solely from destitution)
We work with other organisations in Arun who can to support in other ways: Citizens Advice, can support households with energy payments and the West Sussex Community Hub who can support households with food vouchers.
This vital scheme can be a lifeline for those households in need and we are grateful and proud to be to provide this additional support.
We recently received some feedback from a young family we supported due to not having a washing machine for over a year: thank you again what a surprise today! I have gone one and a half years without a washing machine, with a two-year old boy!! Now I can afford a brand new one!
To find out more about the household support fund, visit Household Support Fund - West Sussex County Council and more information about the cost of living support services in Arun can be found here: Cost of living resources available | Latest news | Arun District Council.
Other financial support may be available for those on low incomes, such as the local Council Tax Reduction scheme'. www.arun.gov.uk/council-tax-reduction