Household Support Fund

On this page
About the Household Support Fund
More information and support
We’d like your feedback
Frequently asked questions
Appendix – previous funding and decisions

About the Household Support Fund

The Household Support Fund is a government grant allocated by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to councils in England.

In September 2024, Reading received £1,130,648 to help residents in need, including low-income families, care leavers, and pensioners. The grant helps families and vulnerable individuals who may struggle to pay for basic living costs, such as:

energy and water
food
wider essentials – such as clothing
housing costs

All available funding has been fully used to support local residents and therefore all elements of the support are now closed. A new scheme will start in May 2025 and details will be available as soon as they are confirmed.

More information and support

For more cost-of-living advice or support, please visit our Money Matters advice pages.

There are also other government funded schemes to help with the cost of living. You can find further details on benefits and financial support on the GOV.UK website.

You can find more information about government support for rising living costs on the government’s cost of living support page.

If you have any queries about these vouchers, please check our frequently asked questions. Alternatively, you can contact us by:

calling the Council’s Household Support Fund helpline on 0118 9373797 - open between 10am to 12pm, and 2pm to 4pm Monday to Friday
emailing household.support@reading.gov.uk

We’d like your feedback

Reading Borough Council would like to know how the Household Support Fund support has helped you. To help us understand this, you may be contacted using the contact details we have for you.

Please tell us how the Household Support Fund has helped you by completing our feedback survey.

Complete feedback survey

Frequently asked questions

Who is the Household Support Fund for?

Funding is aimed at anyone who is vulnerable or struggling to pay for essentials. You don’t need to be on benefits to get help from your council. If you do receive benefits, they won’t be affected by a Household Support Fund payment.

Why does each local council use their Household Support Fund grant differently?

Each council must follow some rules for using the Household Support Fund, but they also have flexibility to address local cost of living issues.

The amount of funding each council receives varies. The government decides the amount based on the level of need in each area.

Within Berkshire, here is the amount of Household Support Fund grant each local council receives for the year 2024/25:

Reading Borough Council: £1,139,648
Slough Borough Council: £1,177,691
West Berkshire Borough Council: £694,849
Wokingham Borough Council: £525,573
Bracknell Forest Borough Council: £555,468
Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead: £587,905

Why doesn’t everyone get financial support?

The Household Support Fund has limited money, so we have to make choices about how it’s used.

Reading Borough Council prioritises helping families with children who are struggling. This is why we send vouchers directly to families eligible for pupil premium/free school meals and care leavers.

Many charities and voluntary and community organisations also support low-income households in Reading.  Through our Public Health team, we’re adding extra help to these efforts.

What if I don’t receive a voucher?

If you believe you are eligible for a voucher but haven’t received one, please wait until after 31 December 2024 to contact the council.

Appendix

Previous funding and decisions

The Household Support Fund (HSF) started in October 2021 and has since been extended several times. The HSF provides support to households who would otherwise struggle to buy food, pay essential utility bills, or meet other essential living and housing costs. So far, there have been three rounds of HSF funding. Each previous round lasted for six months. The current round of funding is available for twelve months.

The first round of HSF funding in Reading provided food vouchers to families who needed extra support over school holidays, as well as energy vouchers for targeted residents. Further funding was allocated to support Reading residents with rising food costs, as well as funding for Reading Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations.

The second funding round focused on the rising cost of energy for residents with a targeted Energy Voucher scheme for those in need, especially older people, and families.

For the third round of funding, the council combined the energy and food voucher schemes into one Cost-of-Living voucher for those who required support. This approach provided added flexibility to residents who could choose how to use the funds according to their individual needs. A Cost-of-Living payment was also introduced for Reading households in receipt of Housing Benefit.

Specific details of what support was provided to Reading residents in previous Household Support Fund rounds can be found below: