Covering England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland — everything below is shown by default, whichever nation you're in. Filter it yourself, or answer a few quick questions and we'll match it to you directly.
Leicestershire County Council
Free energy-efficiency upgrades — loft, cavity wall, external/internal wall, underfloor, and flat-roof insulation, plus renewable heat measures such as air source heat pumps, electric storage heaters, and solar panels — for privately-owned homes with an EPC rating of D, E, F, or G across six Leicestershire districts. Local delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant programme, running to March 2028, delivered by Sustainable Building Services (SBS) on behalf of Leicestershire County Council.
Department for Business and Trade
A government-subsidised leadership and management course for small business owners and senior managers, delivered through accredited business schools. The government covers around 90% of the course cost, leaving businesses that have been trading for at least a year to pay a fixed £750 contribution.
Department for Education / Education and Skills Funding Agency
Pays employers £1,000 for each eligible apprentice they take on, aimed at encouraging businesses to hire apprentices who may otherwise be harder to place — specifically those aged 16–18, or 19–24 year olds with an Education, Health and Care Plan or who have been in local authority care. It's paid automatically once the apprentice's training is confirmed as underway, so there's no separate application to make.
Gloucestershire County Council (Housing Payments delivered by district councils)
Gloucestershire County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended 31 March 2026, backed by £17.1m over three years (2026-2029). Crisis Payments — for residents facing a sudden financial shock such as job loss, bereavement, illness, or an unaffordable essential cost — are administered centrally by the county council, while Housing Payments — for a temporary shortfall between Housing Benefit/Universal Credit and actual housing costs — are administered individually by each of Gloucestershire's six district councils. Also funds supermarket food vouchers, energy support, and signposting to longer-term debt and benefits advice.
Innovate UK (UKRI)
Updated August 2026: the award value has risen to £75,000 (previously £50,000). An annual competition for women leading a UK-registered business with a genuinely innovative idea, offering £75,000 in grant funding alongside 12 months of bespoke leadership and business support (training, networking, mentoring) rather than cash alone. Designed to address the funding gap women-led innovation businesses often face in accessing early-stage capital; the 2025/26 round required the project to align with advanced manufacturing, digital and technologies, or life sciences.
North Ayrshire Council
UK Shared Prosperity Fund grant administered by North Ayrshire Council's Economic Development, Growth and Regeneration team for community and voluntary-sector projects that improve health and wellbeing, reduce crime, tackle homelessness, grow the visitor economy, or improve high streets and town centres.
Historic England (funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Confirmed via an October 2026 research pass: the England-only replacement for the closed Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, announced 22 January 2026 and opened for Expressions of Interest on 20 May 2026. Funded by DCMS and administered by Historic England, it provides £92 million in capital grants over four years (running to 31 March 2030) for urgent repairs and essential improvements to listed places of worship, targeted at areas of greatest need and least ability to raise funds locally — a competitive, needs-targeted model rather than the old scheme's open VAT-reclaim-on-demand approach. Unlike the old scheme, this fund covers England only — it does not extend to Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland, which has drawn criticism in Parliament (see the 25 June 2026 House of Lords debate, where the Bishop of Leicester pressed the Government on how it planned to support places of worship in the devolved nations).
Social Security Scotland
Scotland's devolved replacement for Attendance Allowance — a tax-free weekly payment for people over State Pension age who need help with personal care or supervision because of a disability, long-term condition, or terminal illness.
Welsh Government / Rural Payments Wales, in partnership with Natural Resources Wales
Wales' capital and premium grant for creating new woodland, available via Rural Payments Wales (RPW) Online to farmers and landowners who already hold a Welsh Government-approved Woodland Creation Plan (obtained separately via the Woodland Creation Planning scheme). Window 6 is open from 4 March to 20 November 2026, with applications assessed and selected monthly (the first selection ran 30 March 2026) using scoring criteria based on the site's potential public benefits (carbon capture, flood prevention, air quality, and more). Combined capital, premium and maintenance payments can reach up to £13,294 per hectare over a 12-year period depending on the planting option, plus a separate enhanced incentive of £825/ha announced for predominantly native broadleaf planting (no more than 20% conifers, at least 800 stems per hectare).
Department for Education (delivered by British Council/Ecorys)
Updated August 2026: living cost grant rates have risen since this entry was first written — now £480–£690/month depending on destination group and placement length (was £335–£490), plus a higher rate for disadvantaged students on higher-education placements, and a separate travel grant (£165–£1,360 depending on country) for students from households earning £43,000 or under on eligible short-term programmes. Funds international study and work placements for students, school pupils, and adult learners, replacing the EU's Erasmus+ programme for UK participants since Brexit — placements run 14–365 days between 1 September and 31 August. You can't apply as an individual; it's done through your school, college, university, or employer's own Turing Scheme application.
Social Security Scotland
Scotland's devolved replacement for Carer's Allowance, for unpaid carers resident in Scotland who spend at least 35 hours a week caring for someone receiving a qualifying disability benefit. Pays the same £86.45/week base rate as Carer's Allowance, plus a weekly Scottish Carer Supplement worth £11.70/week from 15 March 2026 — a combined maximum around £98.15/week before any extra Carer Additional Person Payment for carers supporting more than one person. Existing Carer's Allowance claimants in Scotland were transferred across automatically; new applicants apply directly to Social Security Scotland.
Oadby and Wigston Borough Council
Fully funded energy-efficiency home improvements — such as loft insulation, high-retention storage heaters, or solar panels — for privately-owned or privately-rented homes in Oadby and Wigston with an EPC rating of D, E, F, or G. Funded by nearly £1m secured from the Midlands Net Zero Hub, aiming to improve around 70 properties in the borough by 31 March 2028. Run independently by Oadby and Wigston Borough Council rather than as part of the wider Leicestershire county-wide Warm Homes consortium covering the other six Leicestershire districts.
Local councils (England)
Helps fund home adaptations such as ramps, stairlifts, and wet rooms for a disabled occupant, worth up to £30,000 in England. It's means-tested and administered by your local council, usually following an assessment by an occupational therapist to confirm what adaptations are actually needed. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland each run their own separate, differently-capped equivalent schemes.
West Lindsey District Council (leading delivery for the Lincs 4 Warmer Homes partnership)
Free energy-efficiency and heating upgrades for privately-owned or privately-rented homes with a low energy performance rating (EPC band D, E, F, G, or no EPC) and household income typically under £36,000 a year, delivered via the 'Lincs 4 Warmer Homes' partnership covering North Kesteven, West Lindsey, City of Lincoln, and South Kesteven, with West Lindsey District Council leading delivery and working with energy partner YES Energy Solutions.
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
A tax-free lump sum followed by up to 18 further monthly payments for people whose husband, wife, or civil partner has died, replacing the older Widowed Parent's Allowance, Bereavement Allowance and Bereavement Payment. Paid regardless of your own income or savings, based on your late partner's National Insurance record.
Scottish Borders Council (Scottish Borders Local Action Group)
Grants from the Scottish Borders Local Action Group for small/micro businesses, private sector organisations, and third-sector or community groups, covering physical improvements — renewable energy installations, disability access, or equipment purchases — that support business or community development, alongside a linked Supporting Innovation Fund for feasibility studies.
Historic Environment Scotland (HES)
Confirmed via an October 2026 research pass: a one-year pilot launched by Historic Environment Scotland on 1 October 2026 to help listed places of worship in Scotland recover VAT costs on repair and conservation work, filling part of the gap left when the UK-wide Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme closed on 31 March 2026. Up to £1 million is available for the 2026/27 financial year only, drawn from HES's existing grants budget — a fraction of what Scotland received under the old UK-wide scheme, and far smaller (pro rata) than England's new £92 million Places of Worship Renewal Fund. HES has said it will review the pilot's outcomes before deciding on any future funding, so continuation beyond March 2027 is not guaranteed. Wales and Northern Ireland have launched no equivalent fund.
Pembrokeshire County Council
UK Shared Prosperity Fund business grant from Pembrokeshire County Council supporting capital expenditure projects that create new jobs, covering most sectors including tourism and hospitality but explicitly excluding fishing, aquaculture, forestry, and primary agriculture.
Invest Northern Ireland
Updated August 2026: Invest NI's current small-business innovation product is specifically the Business Innovation Grant (BIG), offering £5,000–£20,000 at up to 70% of eligible costs (30% business contribution) — a different amount/rate than previously recorded here. It helps Northern Ireland sole traders, micro-businesses and SMEs develop and commercialise a new or improved product, process, or service, with successful applicants entering the wider Innovate NI programme for ongoing advice and guidance. Invest NI periodically updates its specific grant products and rates, so it's worth speaking to a business advisor to confirm what's currently on offer for a larger R&D project.
Department for Work and Pensions
Updated August 2026: eligibility is now age-based rather than means-tested via Pension Credit — you qualify if born on or before 27 June 1960 and living in England or Wales during the qualifying week (21–27 September 2026). The amount is £200 or £300 depending on age, but anyone with individual taxable income over £35,000/year has the equivalent amount recovered afterwards by HMRC (via tax code or Self Assessment) rather than being refused the payment upfront. Most pensioners are still paid automatically; some need to make a claim.
Student Finance England / SLC (England); Student Awards Agency Scotland — SAAS (Scotland); Student Finance Wales (Wales); Student Finance NI (Northern Ireland)
Extra, non-repayable funding on top of standard student finance for students with a disability, long-term health condition, mental health condition, or specific learning difficulty (e.g. dyslexia, ADHD) that affects their ability to study. Covers specialist equipment (e.g. a computer needed because of the disability), non-medical helpers (note-takers, British Sign Language interpreters, study-skills tutors), extra travel costs where public transport isn't accessible, and other disability-related study costs — but not costs a student would have anyway regardless of their course. The same DSA name and mechanism operates across all four UK nations, but is administered separately with different rate caps by each nation's student finance body.
Redbridge Council
Redbridge's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 and replacing the Household Support Fund. Two published strands: a Crisis Payment for residents facing a sudden, unexpected financial shock, and a Housing Payment for residents already receiving Housing Benefit or the Universal Credit housing element who need extra help with rent shortfalls, deposits, advance rent, or moving costs (but not council tax, mortgage, utilities, or general living costs).
Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority (HEYCA)
A live business advice and support service delivered by the Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority (HEYCA) with East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Hull City Council, funded by HEYCA's share of the national Local Growth Fund that replaced the UK Shared Prosperity Fund from April 2026. Offers one-to-one guidance from experienced business advisers plus specialist workshops, events, online resources, and some financial assistance, covering business planning, finance, marketing, productivity, innovation, exporting, energy efficiency, and supply chains — for both established businesses and people exploring starting one. After strong demand in its first three months (April-June 2026: 643 enquiries, 180 established businesses given non-financial support, 60 potential entrepreneurs supported), the Mayor extended the programme for a further six months. Distinct from HEYCA's separate Growing Places Fund (capital grants/loans of £5,000-£250,000, covered immediately above in this directory), which this programme can refer eligible businesses into.
Scottish Government / Rural Payments and Services
Scotland's post-Brexit replacement for EU Common Agricultural Policy support (including the Basic Payment Scheme), delivered under the Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024 as a four-tier framework: Tier 1 (Base) provides direct area payments to active farmers and crofters, initially continuing to use the existing Basic Payment Scheme mechanism while it is developed further; Tier 2 (Enhanced) is being phased in from 2026, building on the former greening top-up with additional climate/nature requirements; Tier 3 (Elective) funds targeted actions — habitat creation, species protection, agroforestry, organic conversion — currently delivered mainly through the existing Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS); and Tier 4 (Complementary) funds training, advice, and community-led rural development. Around 70% of funding continues to flow through direct payments, giving farmers five years of relative certainty under the plan.
Welsh Government (Business Wales)
A discretionary Welsh Government grant of up to £2,000 for people aged 25 or over who are economically inactive or unemployed and face recognised barriers to starting a business or entering employment, covering revenue (day-to-day running) costs of getting a new business off the ground. Delivered through Business Wales alongside advice and guidance for the applicant's start-up plan.
Rochdale Borough Council
Rochdale's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, with £5m invested for the first six months (April–September 2026) continuing the borough's established Household Support Fund programmes, pending a further funding decision for October 2026–April 2027. Covers crisis payments, housing payments, school-holiday food vouchers for around 16,000 children, and a Warm Homes strand covering fuel bills, boiler repairs, and essential household items like fridges and washing machines.
Council of the Isles of Scilly (delivered jointly with the Isles of Scilly Charitable Trust and the Richard Addison Charitable Trust)
The Council of the Isles of Scilly's replacement for the Household Support Fund (which ended nationally on 31 March 2026) is structurally different from a typical council's Crisis and Resilience Fund: rather than administering payments directly, the council funds a joint Crisis Payment scheme delivered by two independent local charities, the Isles of Scilly Charitable Trust (for applicants under 60) and the Richard Addison Charitable Trust (for applicants 60 and over), sharing a single application form. Support addresses financial shocks from disasters, accidents, health emergencies, relationship breakdown, essential item failure, or unexpected income loss.
Sefton Council
Grant funding for voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations in Sefton delivering one-off projects linked to the council's core purpose, with particular emphasis on supporting the borough's most vulnerable residents and generating savings for the council. Applications can be submitted at any time — there are no fixed funding rounds or deadlines.
Telford & Wrekin Council
Telford & Wrekin Council's Pride in Our High Street programme, relaunched for 2025/26 with £1.2m across six grant strands for businesses in the borough's town high streets: a Start-up Grant (up to £10,000, for new businesses moving into empty retail units), a Start-up Trial Grant (up to £2,500, for market traders, amount varying by market), a Façade Grant (£500-£3,000 for shopfront improvements), an Eco Grant (up to £500 for energy-efficient equipment), a Digital Grant (up to £500 for websites/EPOS systems), and a Diversification Grant (£500-£4,000 for existing businesses introducing new products or services).
Aberdeen City Council
Free short-term hire of shop fixtures, fittings, and retail equipment to activate empty city-centre units and pop-up activity in Aberdeen, reducing upfront costs for people testing a retail or community concept.
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council
A £30,000 grants pot from Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council for voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations delivering projects that welcome and integrate refugees and asylum-seekers into the borough's communities. Grants of up to £2,000 per application fund new or existing initiatives, to be spent within 12 months of receiving funds.
Vale of Glamorgan Council
Capital grant from Vale of Glamorgan Council helping businesses and owners of commercial and retail property improve shopfronts and building exteriors in the county's town centres and other shopping districts.
Newcastle City Council
Newcastle's replacement for the Household Support Fund, running 1 April 2026–31 March 2029. Comprises Crisis Payments (emergency food/energy/transport help), Housing Payments (rent shortfalls, removal costs), Resilience Services (money-skills support), and Community Coordination. Cash-first payments are standard; furniture or household items require a prior purchase and receipt.
Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council
Capital grants to refresh signage and shopfronts for businesses in small rural settlements across Lisburn and Castlereagh (including Aghalee, Annahilt, Dromara, Drumbeg, Glenavy, Upper and Lower Ballinderry, Maghaberry, Milltown, and Moneyreagh), improving the appearance of local high streets.
Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council
Grants of up to £3,000 for community and voluntary organisations in Lisburn and Castlereagh to run projects that ease financial pressure, strengthen community resilience, and promote resource sharing, funded as part of the council's DEA Local Investment Plan 2026–27.
Welsh Government
A shared equity loan of up to 20% of the purchase price towards a new-build home in Wales costing no more than £300,000, bought from a builder registered with the scheme. You need a 5% cash deposit and a repayment mortgage, and between them the mortgage and deposit must cover at least 80% of the price. The scheme had been due to close to new applications on 30 September 2026, but the Welsh Government extended it in July 2026: applications now have to be submitted by 31 March 2027, with around 400 further households expected to be helped.
City of London Corporation
The City of London Corporation's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026. The Corporation's dedicated 'Emergency Support Scheme' page still described a separate Crisis Resilience Fund as 'being finalised' with a target open date of 1 July 2026 at research time, but the Corporation's own cost-of-living support hub page has since integrated live Crisis and Resilience Fund content directly — describing eligibility, coverage (cash payments, utility bill payments, supermarket vouchers, essential household items), and a working application contact — suggesting the two pages are out of step with each other rather than the scheme genuinely being unlaunched. Given the conflicting evidence between the Corporation's own pages, treat the launch status and every detail below as unconfirmed until directly re-checked.
Wokingham Borough Council
Wokingham Borough Council's Sparks Community Award, offering grants of £100-£2,000 to individuals, grassroots groups, and established organisations with new ideas that help adults needing extra support due to disability, a health condition, or caring responsibilities — focused on strengthening community belonging, helping people remain in their own home, or enabling participation in valued activities (e.g. community cooking clubs, social connection programmes, accessible arts or sports). Successful applicants get one year of funding plus support promoting their work.
Cheltenham Borough Council
Match-funded grants of up to £2,000 per project from Cheltenham Borough Council's Community Pride fund (£30,000 total pot for the 2026 round), supporting community-led projects that connect people and celebrate Cheltenham's culture and diversity, improve biodiversity and green spaces, support children and families, improve community safety, or promote physical and mental wellbeing. The council funds up to 50% of project costs, with the remainder met by the applicant group, including in-kind volunteer time.
Northern Ireland Housing Executive
Northern Ireland's version of Right to Buy, open to Housing Executive secure tenants. Five years' tenancy earns a 20% discount on the market value, rising 2% for each further year up to a maximum of 60% or £24,000 — whichever is lower, which makes the cash cap the binding limit on most properties. Sheltered housing, group housing schemes and certain small single-storey or ground-floor homes are excluded. The parallel scheme for housing association tenants closed in August 2022, so this is now the only statutory discounted-purchase route for social tenants in Northern Ireland.
Department for Communities (Northern Ireland)
Northern Ireland's own workplace support scheme for disabled people and those with a long-term health condition, run separately from the Great Britain Access to Work scheme but with broadly similar aims and support types.
London Borough of Hillingdon
Hillingdon's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments from 1 April 2026. Covers a general Crisis and Resilience grant (essential household items require a supporting Income & Expenditure form) alongside a separate Crisis and Resilience Fund Housing Payment (CRFHP) strand for residents receiving Housing Benefit or Universal Credit who need extra help with rent, deposits, or advance payments due to unavoidable extra costs, arrears, or a shortfall against the Local Housing Allowance.
Social Security Scotland
Scotland's alternative to the Cold Weather Payment — instead of being triggered by a specific cold snap, it's a fixed annual payment of £59.75 paid once each winter to low-income households, regardless of how cold the weather actually gets. Like its England/Wales counterpart, it's paid automatically to people already receiving a qualifying benefit, with no separate application needed.
London Borough of Hounslow
Hounslow's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — funded by the Department for Work and Pensions and running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029. Supports households who would otherwise struggle to buy food, pay essential utility bills, or meet other essential living or housing costs, with a particular focus on people in or close to poverty, disabled residents, and older households — including provision of essential household items (rather than cash) for those establishing an independent home or avoiding entry into care.
Newham Council
Newham's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — worth almost £25 million to the borough over the three years to March 2029, delivered through the council's 'Our Newham Money' service. Marks a shift from one-off annual cost-of-living payments to a planned three-year model providing cash-first support for essentials like food and prepayment energy meters, alongside income maximisation, arrears prevention, and employment support delivered through eight Community Neighbourhood areas in partnership with local voluntary, community, and faith organisations.
Development Bank of Wales
Confirmed August 2026: still active and recently expanded — Welsh Government added £270 million in January 2026, taking the fund to £500 million total and extending its investment horizon to 2030. Provides Welsh businesses with loan and equity finance ranging from £25,000 up to £10 million, spanning everything from start-up funding through to expansion-stage investment. Included in this directory as a genuinely prominent source of Welsh business funding, even though — unlike most other listings here — it's repayable finance rather than a non-repayable grant, so it needs to be paid back (or, for equity, involves giving up a stake in the business).
Forest of Dean District Council
Grants of up to £1,000 from Forest of Dean District Council to support new business and social enterprise start-ups that contribute to sustainable local economic development — covering costs such as premises, equipment, product/service launch, research and development, and clean/energy-efficient technology. Open on a rolling basis with fixed quarterly application deadlines running through to 2028.
Birmingham City Council
Free energy-efficiency upgrades (insulation, ventilation, low-carbon heating) for privately-owned homes, delivered by Next Energy for Birmingham City Council as the local arm of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant programme, running 2025 to 2028, for 625 private homes. Corrected in an August 2026 re-check: the council's own page states the scheme 'is only available to residents' in seven named Retrofit Priority Areas — Balsall Heath, Bromford, Castle Vale, Sparkbrook, Sparkhill, Tyseley and Hay Mills (Sparkhill was not on the list found in the previous research pass) — there is no separate route for lower-income households elsewhere in the city as previously described here.
Full Fibre Northern Ireland (FFNI) Consortium — led by Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, delivered by all 11 NI councils, supported by Invest NI
Grants for Northern Ireland small and micro businesses and social enterprises to adopt advanced digital technologies — AI, AR/VR and other immersive technologies, IoT, robotics, big data, blockchain, and systems integration — covering £5,000–£20,000 per project at up to 70% of eligible costs. Delivered jointly by all 11 Northern Ireland councils under the Full Fibre Northern Ireland Consortium rather than by any single council, so it is modelled here as one Northern Ireland-wide entry rather than duplicated across council-specific listings.
Tower Hamlets Council (delivered by Allia Impact)
A free business-support programme for Tower Hamlets-based (or resident-owned) early-stage businesses, funded by the council through the UK Government's Shared Prosperity Fund and the Greater London Authority, delivered by Allia Impact. Combines a scale-up planning workshop and tailored support with the chance to pitch at the Tower Hamlets Entrepreneurs Showcase for up to £5,000 in grant funding towards equipment, marketing, stock, systems, or other growth activities — part of a wider £400,000 suite of business-support projects the council launched for entrepreneurs, early-stage startups, and female founders.
Bradford Council
Grants for restoration, repair, or improvement works to properties within Bradford City Centre's Heritage Action Zone, part of a £2m Historic England-backed programme currently prioritising shopfronts on Ivegate.
Kirklees Council
Kirklees's replacement for the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026, providing crisis payments for essential items (food, fuel, household appliances/furniture, clothing, transport) and housing payments, with VCSE partnership work administered via One Community Foundation.
Marine Management Organisation / Defra
Corrected August 2026: amount and application portal updated after locating the live official source (previously omitted as not confidently known). FaSS is funded from the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund (£304m across England's fishing and seafood businesses and coastal communities) and offers up to £250,000 grant per applicant per year, not the wider £1,000–£1 million range previously recorded. Funds projects across the English fishing and seafood sector — from safety equipment and vessel improvements through to processing and marketing. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland each run their own separate devolved equivalents rather than sharing this English scheme.
Shetland Islands Council
Shetland Islands Council fund supporting community and economic development across Shetland by investing in infrastructure, community capacity building, and community assets, encouraging inclusive growth, net-zero progress, and local resilience.
Bath and North East Somerset Council
Bath and North East Somerset Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended nationally 31 March 2026. Supports residents facing a sudden, unexpected expense or drop in income with food, winter clothing, energy costs (including heating oil), household bills, essential travel, and furniture/appliances, provided as cash, vouchers, or essential items and services depending on circumstances.
Cardiff Council
Capital grants of £1,000–£20,000, covering up to 75% of project spend, for existing Cardiff cultural-performance venues to become more financially or environmentally sustainable — tied to job creation, energy/CO2 reduction, and accessibility improvements. Larger requests above £20,000 are considered as strategic Cardiff Growth Fund projects instead. Open to limited companies, social enterprises, CICs, or charities operating a Cardiff-registered venue that has traded for at least 2 years and meets the SME definition.
Surrey County Council (on behalf of the Surrey district/borough consortium)
An eleven-council, county-wide Warm Homes: Local Grant consortium covering all of Surrey's district and borough councils, managed by Surrey County Council on behalf of members and funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Running from 1 September 2025 to 31 March 2028, it funds home retrofit measures — loft, cavity wall, external wall, park home, underfloor and internal wall insulation, window and door upgrades, solar PV/thermal and battery storage, and low-carbon heating (air source heat pumps, high-retention storage heaters) — with whole-project support averaging up to around £12,400 per household.
Scottish Enterprise
Funds larger-scale research and development projects for Scottish businesses, covering 35–50% of eligible costs for SMEs (25–40% for large companies) working independently, with additional support available for consortium projects. Aimed at significant innovation with clear commercial prospects rather than routine product updates, and pitched at a larger scale than the smaller SMART: SCOTLAND grant also listed in this directory — the minimum grant is £250,000, reflecting an expected minimum project spend of around £1 million.
Cardiff Council
The Butetown-ward-specific version of the Cardiff Growth Fund, helping local businesses in that ward capture the footfall and investment uplift from the Atlantic Wharf arena redevelopment. Offers the same terms as the main Cardiff Growth Fund — £1,000–£20,000, covering up to 75% of project spend, with larger requests considered as strategic projects — but only to businesses registered in Butetown.
Leicester City Council
Each of Leicester's wards holds an annual budget for community projects, open to individuals, community groups, voluntary organisations, statutory agencies, and other partners with a genuine interest in the ward. Applicants can apply to up to three wards if the project benefits all of them.
Swansea Council
A small bursary of up to £1,000 letting would-be entrepreneurs in Swansea test-trade a business idea before formally incorporating, to gauge demand and build confidence without major financial risk. Aimed at local residents still validating a concept rather than businesses already trading.
Belfast City Council
Capital grants to property owners and prospective occupiers to bring vacant properties back into use across Belfast neighbourhoods outside the city centre, prioritising units with significant frontage on urban centres and arterial routes.
Bury Council
Bury's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026. Provides crisis payments for sudden financial shocks, housing payments (including rent shortfalls and homelessness prevention), and wraparound support such as income maximisation, budgeting, and debt advice.
Aberdeen City Council
Match-funded grants toward the physical works needed to reoccupy vacant ground-floor units on Aberdeen's Union Street — up to £35,000 at the standard 50% match-funded rate, or up to £70,000 under an enhanced tier for larger or long-term vacant units. Open to property owners or new/prospective tenants, excluding large chains, betting shops, and several other restricted trades. Successful applicants can also access 100% business rates Fresh Start Relief for up to 12 months, and the scheme runs until the end of the 2026/27 financial year or until funding is fully allocated.
Leeds City Council
Leeds's 3-year (2026–2029) replacement for the Household Support Fund, delivering crisis payments, housing payments, resilience/advice services, and community coordination — an emphasis on building longer-term financial resilience rather than only one-off relief.
Sheffield City Council
Sheffield's local implementation of the Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from April 2026. Delivers crisis payments, housing payments, income-maximisation advice ('Cashfirst'), and community coordination with voluntary sector partners under a 'no wrong door' model.
Wyre Council
Wyre Council business grant scheme offering up to £5,000 per eligible business from a £50,000 fund running over two years, supporting local start-ups and established businesses to invest in new plant, equipment or machinery, premises improvements and energy efficiency upgrades, training and accreditation, broadband upgrades, and marketing or website development.
Salford City Council
Salford's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments from 1 April 2026. The Crisis Payment Scheme provides short-term help for residents with nowhere else to turn during a sudden financial crisis, shock, domestic emergency, or risk of homelessness.
Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council
Tameside's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029, replacing the Household Support Fund. Comprises Crisis Payments (one-off help for a sudden financial shock) and Housing Payments (discretionary support for residents receiving Housing Benefit or Universal Credit housing costs).
Winchester City Council
Winchester City Council's discretionary top-up for disabled residents whose home adaptation works cost more than the mandatory national Disabled Facilities Grant maximum of £30,000, under the council's Disabled Facilities Grant Policy — the council's overall discretionary grant level is capped at £100,000.
Wigan Council
Wigan's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029, replacing the Household Support Fund. Comprises Crisis Payments for households facing or at risk of financial shock, and Housing Payments offering limited short-term help with rent.
St Helens Borough Council
St Helens's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 with just over £3.49m allocated per year, replacing the Household Support Fund. Covers urgent fuel, food, and living-expense costs (including utility arrears), furniture and white-goods replacement, and housing costs (replacing Discretionary Housing Payments), via three separate application routes.
Sefton Council
Sefton's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, launched 1 April 2026, replacing the Household Support Fund. Delivered through three strands: a Crisis Payment scheme for low-income households facing a sudden financial shock, Financial Resilience Support (budgeting, benefits optimisation, debt advice, employment/training access), and Community Coordination to improve referral pathways.
Cheshire East Council (consortium lead)
Home energy-efficiency improvements for Cheshire East's least energy-efficient privately-owned homes, delivered by Cheshire East Council in partnership with Cheshire West and Chester and Warrington Borough Councils under the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, with £8,392,725 allocated to the consortium. The council's own page warns the scheme is closing and funding is likely to be very limited now.
Three Rivers District Council
Three Rivers District Council grants of up to £3,000 (capped at 25% of installation cost) to help small and medium-sized businesses install solar PV panels and/or a battery storage system at their commercial premises, funded from a £50,000 total pot spread across the 2025/26 and 2026/27 financial years and paid retrospectively once the work is complete.
Wrexham County Borough Council
UK Shared Prosperity Fund-backed reimbursement grant from Wrexham County Borough Council helping pre-start and existing small and medium-sized enterprises fund capital and specialist revenue expenditure projects.
Liverpool City Council
Liverpool's locally-run replacement for the Household Support Fund, funded by the DWP. Provides short-term help with food, gas/electricity/water, clothing, essential furniture/appliances, travel costs, phone/internet, and rent shortfalls, plus signposting to debt, benefits, and employment advice. You do not need to already be receiving benefits to apply.
Basildon Borough Council
Free home energy-efficiency improvements — insulation, low-carbon heating systems, and solar panels — for lower-income households in privately owned or rented homes across the Basildon borough, backed by around £1.5m of Warm Homes: Local Grant funding awarded directly to Basildon Borough Council. Confirmed to run as the council's own scheme, distinct from the HEAT Essex delivery partnership covering most other Essex districts.
West Lothian Council
West Lothian Council grant, funded via the council's Economic Growth Plan, helping SMEs introduce new digital capabilities into their workplace or processes.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council
East Riding of Yorkshire Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — running from 1 April 2026, with four strands: Crisis Payments for immediate emergencies, Housing Payments replacing Discretionary Housing Payments, Free School Meal vouchers (£15 per eligible child for May half-term and summer 2026), and Heating Oil/LPG support for off-grid households delivered via Humber & Wolds Rural Action.
InterTradeIreland
Cross-border sales growth support for Northern Ireland (and Republic of Ireland) SMEs, funding towards a dedicated sales resource or consultancy support to grow cross-border sales across the island of Ireland — up to £17,250 (€21,562), covering up to 50% of eligible costs, e.g. towards the salary of a part-time sales resource for 6–12 months (up to £9,200/€11,500).
Gloucester City Council
Small, accessible grants from Gloucester City Council's Gloucester Lottery Central Fund, aimed at residents not currently involved in local community activities, to turn their own skills, interests and lived experience into community-led projects. Grants of up to £250 are available for individuals, and up to £500 for a group of at least three people coming together on a shared idea.
Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council
UK Shared Prosperity Fund grant administered by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, supporting hospitality and tourism businesses — B&Bs, holiday lets, guest houses, hotels, attractions, activity providers — with capital projects that create jobs, boost visitor facilities, or align with the council's Destination Management Plan.
Bridgend County Borough Council
Part of Bridgend County Borough Council's Strategic Regeneration Grants, funding external and internal improvements to commercial buildings in Bridgend's town, district, and local service centres — enhancing shopfronts and bringing vacant floor space back into use.
Wakefield Council
Wakefield's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026 and running to 31 March 2029. Helps residents cope with a sudden, unexpected expense or loss of income (food, energy bills, housing costs, and other essentials) while also building longer-term financial resilience; a Housing Payment strand replaces the previous Discretionary Housing Payment scheme.
Hartlepool Borough Council
Hartlepool Borough Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — running April 2026 to March 2029 with a £2.36m allocation for 2026/27 (over £1.2m earmarked for crisis payments). Live strands include essential household items (white goods, beds, carpets), heating oil cost support, exceptional-cost payments, and one-off help toward council tax arrears for residents keeping up with current-year payments; a separate Housing Payment strand for rent/housing-cost shortfalls was still described as 'coming soon' on the council's own page at research time.
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
The main disability benefit for working-age people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, paid to help with the extra costs of a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability — split into a daily living component and a mobility component.
Birmingham City Council
One-off hardship grant for Birmingham households facing financial hardship, covering food costs and energy payments. Replaces the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally 31 March 2026.
North East Lincolnshire Council
North East Lincolnshire Council's Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — has an unusual referral-only design: residents cannot apply directly and must instead be referred by one of five named local support organisations (Centre4, Foresight, Creating Positive Opportunity, Navigo, and Lincolnshire Housing Partnership), which submit the application on their behalf. Approved applicants can receive cash support, supermarket vouchers, and replacement essential items (appliances), alongside money-management coaching, debt advice, skills training, and digital-service support through ConnectNEL.
North Hertfordshire District Council
North Hertfordshire District Council grants of £500-£1,500 for independent, not-for-profit organisations delivering projects that benefit local communities — improving local spaces, running events, or supporting vulnerable groups — plus a related Community Facility Capital Grants strand for improving community centres, village halls, and similar buildings. Administered through five local Community Forums, each with its own staggered submission deadlines across 2026/27.
Portsmouth City Council (consortium lead)
Free or subsidised home energy-efficiency improvements — insulation, low-carbon heating (including air source heat pumps), and solar PV — for lower-income households in Bracknell Forest, Bedford, Brighton & Hove, Isle of Wight, Luton, Milton Keynes, Portsmouth, Reading, Rutland, Southampton, West Berkshire, Wokingham, Basingstoke and Deane, East Hampshire, Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport, Hart, Havant, New Forest, Rushmoor, Test Valley, Winchester, Adur, Arun, Chichester, Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex, and Worthing, delivered through 'Warmer Homes', a 30+-authority consortium led by Portsmouth City Council in partnership with AgilityEco, under the national Warm Homes: Local Grant.
Bracknell Forest Council
Bracknell Forest Council's local crisis payment scheme, funded through the Crisis and Resilience Fund and replacing the Household Support Fund which ended 31 March 2026. Provides short-term, one-off support in an emergency when family, friends, charities, or insurance cannot help, covering food, energy, and water costs and other essential emergency expenses.
Oxfordshire County Council (in partnership with Welcome the Warmth/Agility Eco Services)
Free home energy-efficiency and low-carbon heating upgrades — including cavity wall, external wall, loft and underfloor insulation, solar PV, solar hot water, and air source heat pumps — for lower-income households across Oxfordshire with an EPC rating of D, E, F, or G. Run directly by Oxfordshire County Council in partnership with Welcome the Warmth/Agility Eco Services and funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, rather than delivered separately by each district.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council (with the Midlands Net Zero Hub, delivered by Community Home Solutions)
Free wall/loft insulation, solar panels, and heating system upgrades for lower-income Stoke-on-Trent homeowners and private tenants struggling to heat their homes, funded by up to £7m from the national Warm Homes: Local Grant and administered locally by Community Home Solutions. A standalone Stoke-on-Trent allocation rather than a shared consortium — distinct from the separate 43-authority Midlands Net Zero Hub Warm Homes: Local Grant grouping found covering North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire elsewhere in this trawl, despite both referencing the Midlands Net Zero Hub.
Camden Council
Camden's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — helping residents on low incomes facing financial hardship afford essentials such as food and energy. Crisis Payments of up to £500 are available, alongside continued school-holiday food support for low-income families (funded jointly with Camden's own Cost of Living Fund) running until 31 August 2026.
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
The main benefit for unpaid carers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who spend at least 35 hours a week caring for someone receiving a qualifying disability benefit such as PIP, DLA, or Attendance Allowance. Pays £86.45 a week (2026/27 rate) provided your own net earnings stay under the weekly threshold — going even £1 over loses the whole week's award. Receiving it can reduce the disabled person's own means-tested benefits via the 'severe disability premium', so it's worth checking that interaction before claiming.
Croydon Council
Capital grants to bring empty commercial units back into use on Croydon's high streets and district centres, part of the 'Croydon Means Business' programme funded through the borough's Growth Zone. Ten grants of £10,000 each are available to micro and small businesses taking on a vacant unit.
HM Revenue & Customs / Department for Work and Pensions
A National Insurance credit (not a cash payment) for carers who provide 20+ hours/week of care but don't qualify for, or don't want to claim, Carer's Allowance — protects your State Pension record from gaps caused by caring.
Thanet District Council (delivered in partnership with E.ON)
Thanet District Council's standalone delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, backed by a £1,548,220 government allocation. Offers free or subsidised energy-efficiency measures for eligible low-income homeowners and private tenants, with cost caps of up to £15,000 per home for energy performance upgrades and up to £15,000 for low-carbon heating (up to £30,000 combined).
Cumberland Council
Cumberland Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing both the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments which ended nationally 31 March 2026, running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029. Delivers a person-centred, cash-first approach to short-term crisis support, plus longer-term financial-resilience building, through three channels: Crisis Payments, Housing Payments, and Heating Oil Support (see separate entry).
Wealden District Council
Wealden District Council's discretionary top-up assistance and loans, available alongside the mandatory £30,000 Disabled Facilities Grant, to help disabled occupants either adapt their home for additional works and assessed financial contributions, or move to more suitable accommodation entirely. Set out in the council's Private Housing Financial Assistance Policy 2023-2028.
Worcestershire County Council (crisis and energy support); district councils (housing-related support)
Worcestershire County Council's county-wide Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and running for three years until 31 March 2029. Provides crisis payments and wider financial resilience support — such as the Oil and LPG Energy Support Scheme and a Heating Repairs and Replacements scheme — for low-income households facing a financial emergency, administered via the Worcestershire Advice Network (Citizens Advice, Age UK, and DIAL). Housing-related costs are handled separately by each district council.
Land & Property Services (LPS), Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland's equivalent of the Council Tax Disabled Band Reduction Scheme: a 25% reduction in domestic rates for a household specially adapted or with additional features to accommodate a resident's disability. NI has no Council Tax — it uses a separate rates system, hence a structurally different (but functionally similar) scheme.
Family Fund (registered charity, grant-funded by the UK, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland governments)
The UK's largest grant-making charity for families on a low income raising a disabled or seriously ill child or young person (up to age 24) — grants cover items like essential equipment, furniture, sensory/play equipment, technology, clothing, and family breaks.
West Kent Partnership (Sevenoaks District Council, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council)
A three-council consortium ('West Kent Partnership') of Sevenoaks District Council, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, offering capital grants of £5,000-£20,000 to rural businesses and community organisations, funded by the UK Government's Rural England Prosperity Fund. Supports projects such as improving or creating business/visitor accommodation, venues and facilities, purchasing growth-supporting equipment, and carbon-reduction investments.
Renfrewshire Council
Renfrewshire Council capital grant to bring vacant, underused, or derelict properties of strategic or heritage importance in the area's town centres back into use, supporting wider town-centre regeneration.
Kirklees Council
Grants for community-led projects run by individuals, voluntary/community groups, not-for-profits, and charities across Kirklees, aimed at strengthening local connections and reducing isolation. Individuals can apply for up to £200, and registered organisations for up to £5,000 (organisations seeking over £1,000 must first register with the council's Grant Access Point). Projects that had funding end within the last 12 months aren't eligible to reapply.
Babergh District Council
Babergh District Council's ward-level small grants scheme, giving each District Councillor an annual £2,000 budget to award to community projects in their ward — from improvements to community facilities and sports clubs, to wildflower planting and equipment for youth groups or community shops.
Social Security Scotland
Scotland's devolved replacement for Healthy Start — a payment card helping low-income pregnant women and families with children under 3 in Scotland buy healthy food, at more generous rates and with materially higher uptake than the rest of the UK.
Bristol City Council
Bristol's replacement for the Household Support Fund, running April 2026–March 2029 with a £21.3m total allocation. Funds free school meal vouchers during holidays, support for care leavers and foster households with food and heating, and allocations to partner charities (Feeding Bristol, Red Cross, and the local advice sector). Structured more as council-directed allocations than a single open application — most people needing immediate individual emergency help are directed to Bristol's separate Crisis Payment Scheme, which was not independently verified in this research pass.
South Lanarkshire Council
South Lanarkshire Council grant for constituted third-sector organisations delivering community-led initiatives that strengthen community bonds, improve health outcomes, enhance economic participation, or reduce poverty.
Sheffield City Council
£3.4m secured to fund energy-efficiency upgrades — insulation, heat pumps, smart heating controls, solar PV — for 220+ homes across Sheffield, prioritising heat pumps over fossil-fuel boilers. Local delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant.
Stroud District Council
Grants of up to £1,000 from Stroud District Council for local voluntary sector organisations and community groups supporting the wellbeing of their communities. A simple two-page application form is designed to make the fund accessible to small groups with less bid-writing experience, assessed by a panel three times a year.
Leicester City Council
Leicester's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund, providing crisis payments, housing payments, and council tax discretionary relief for low-income households facing a sudden financial shock.
City of Edinburgh Council (via Business Gateway Edinburgh)
Grant of up to £2,000 to help already-trading, Edinburgh-headquartered businesses expand into new or existing overseas markets, where the project delivers a clear local employment or investment benefit. Applications must go through a Business Gateway Edinburgh adviser and are limited to first-time applicants for this specific grant. Funded jointly by the UK Government's Local Growth Fund and the council.
Swansea Council
Supports individuals starting new retail or hospitality businesses in eligible High Street premises across Swansea's city and district centres — including Clydach, Gorseinon, Gowerton, Killay, Pontarddulais, Morriston, Mumbles, Sketty, and Uplands — as part of wider town-centre regeneration. Worth up to £30,000 in total: up to £25,000 toward start-up costs plus a further £5,000 to help with overheads in the business's first 3 months of trading.
Stockport Council
Stockport's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments from 1 April 2026. Provides crisis support to low-income households facing unexpected financial pressure, alongside automatic Family Support Vouchers worth £50 per eligible child for essential household costs.
Coventry City Council
Distinct from the national Disabled Facilities Grant, this Coventry-specific scheme funds energy-efficiency measures — external/cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, boiler and heating replacement, first-time gas central heating — specifically for disabled householders.
Oldham Council
Oldham's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026 with over £5.7m secured for 2026/27 — an increase on the previous Household Support Fund allocation. Funds immediate crisis support (including supermarket vouchers for children eligible for Free School Meals during holidays) alongside longer-term financial resilience services and foodbank support.
Glasgow City Council
Non-repayable grant covering up to 50% of project costs to help Glasgow SMEs, social enterprises, and CICs reduce energy bills and progress toward net zero — covering building improvements, active travel/EV support, and waste minimisation.
Royal Borough of Greenwich
Royal Greenwich's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — running April 2026 to March 2029 and always open for applications. Provides a Crisis Payment Scheme for sudden, unexpected financial emergencies, Community Support Awards for basic furniture or household items, and targeted automatic payments for specific groups — including £250 for eligible care leavers and vulnerable households (summer and winter) and £60 per person for households in temporary hotel accommodation. Every application comes with an offer of free longer-term support: debt advice, benefits checks, and budgeting help.
Torridge District Council
Torridge District Council makes unallocated Section 106 developer-contribution funding available to not-for-profit, community-based organisations in the Torridge district for capital projects (equipment, buildings, facilities) — not ongoing running costs. Funding is tied to the specific area where a development has contributed to the need for the facility, so availability varies by parish/town.
Bristol City Leap (on behalf of Bath and North East Somerset Council, Bristol City Council, and North Somerset Council)
Free home energy-efficiency improvements — cavity/external/loft/underfloor insulation, air source heat pumps, solar PV, window and door replacement, ventilation upgrades, and electric storage heaters — for lower-income households in Bath and North East Somerset, delivered through the Bright Green Homes project. Bright Green Homes is a three-council consortium led by Bristol City Council (via Bristol City Leap) in partnership with Bath and North East Somerset and North Somerset, funded by the national Warm Homes: Local Grant.
Stroud District Council
Grants from the Stroud District Culture Grants Programme, supporting cultural activity that strengthens communities, celebrates creativity, and contributes to the district's cultural, social and economic wellbeing. Three funding rounds run per year, each themed around two priorities drawn from the council's Culture Strategy, open to early career artists, students, arts/culture/community organisations and charities based in the district.
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
Free or subsidised home energy-efficiency improvements — insulation, low-carbon heating (heat pumps, high-retention storage heaters), and solar panels — for lower-income homeowners and private renters across Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, and Wirral, funded by a £31.8m Liverpool City Region Combined Authority-led consortium award covering around 2,000 homes. Originally modelled as a Knowsley-only entry in an earlier research pass; extended in the August 2026 Merseyside/South Yorkshire/Tyne and Wear batch once St Helens, Sefton, and Wirral came into scope, following the same single-entry-per-combined-scheme pattern used for Greater Manchester's Warm Homes: Local Grant.
Rochdale Borough Council
Grants toward the fit-out costs of opening a new independent retail, hospitality, or professional-services business in one of a set of designated empty high-street units across Rochdale, Heywood, and Middleton, aimed at reducing vacancy rates and boosting town-centre vibrancy.
Charnwood Borough Council
Small grants of up to £750 for voluntary and community sector organisations with an annual income of less than £20,000, supporting community-based projects and activities in Charnwood. Runs in rounds throughout the year and stays open until funds are allocated.
North West Leicestershire District Council
A new £2m programme from North West Leicestershire District Council funding community projects that make a lasting difference, via revenue grants of up to £25,000 or capital grants of up to £250,000, for not-for-profit organisations addressing local needs such as health, facilities, environmental improvement, and community engagement.
Hertfordshire County Council (Crisis Payments via Citizens Advice; Housing Payments delivered by district/borough councils)
Hertfordshire County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments which both ended nationally 31 March 2026, backed by a £9.1m allocation for 2026/27 (a 26% reduction on the equivalent Household Support Fund allocation two years earlier). Crisis Payments — covering essentials such as food and energy vouchers and, in some cases, white goods for eligible families, care leavers, young carers and homeless households — are administered on the county council's behalf by local Citizens Advice services, alongside funding for the Money Advice Unit and Age UK for debt, benefits, housing and employment support. Housing Payments — for a shortfall between Housing Benefit/Universal Credit and actual rent — are administered individually by each Hertfordshire district and borough council.
Durham County Council
Durham County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029, replacing the Household Support Fund, the council's welfare assistance scheme, and Discretionary Housing Payments. Every application is individually assessed against household income, essential expenditure, accessible capital, and underlying needs, delivered as cash, vouchers, or essential items/services.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council
An East Riding of Yorkshire Council initiative offering grants of up to £10,000 to local businesses, property owners, town/parish councils, event organisers, and business groups for projects that help revive East Riding high streets — new business ventures, projects making the high street a destination, or diversification such as building an online offer or delivery service.
City of Doncaster Council
Doncaster's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026. Provides crisis payments (grants, not loans) to low-income households facing a financial shock or at risk of entering crisis, covering food, energy, water, essential clothing, furniture/appliances, transport, digital/connectivity essentials, and housing costs.
Rochdale Borough Council
Locally administered grants from each of Rochdale borough's five townships (Heywood, Middleton, Pennines, Rochdale North, and Rochdale South) for non-profit community groups and projects that directly benefit their local community and environment, with priority for groups without existing funding or in underserved areas.
Sunderland City Council
Sunderland's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — running to 31 March 2029. Four elements: Community Coordination, Crisis Payments, Housing Payments (for shortfalls between rent and Housing Benefit/Universal Credit housing costs), and Resilience Services. The council has partnered with Lightning Reach to help residents identify and access wider financial support, and issued Summer 2026 Holiday Support vouchers (£15 per pupil per week) to over 13,000 Free School Meal-eligible pupils.
Calderdale Council
Calderdale's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029, replacing the Household Support Fund. Supports households facing a recent financial shock with essential costs (including household items), and — unlike a like-for-like HSF replacement — is explicitly designed to also build longer-term financial resilience and reduce the risk of future crises, alongside a separate VCSE Community Grants strand for local voluntary and community organisations.
Worcestershire County Council, delivered with Act on Energy
Worcestershire County Council's Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG) scheme, delivered in partnership with local energy charity Act on Energy, offering free home upgrades — insulation, replacement windows and doors, solar PV, and low-carbon heating such as air source heat pumps — to eligible low-income owner-occupiers and private tenants, funded by around £3.24m of government capital funding through to March 2028.
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council
Capital grants for existing rural micro-businesses in Fermanagh and Omagh to buy equipment, machinery, computers, or build an e-commerce website, funded through DAERA's Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation Programme and delivered locally by the council.
Camden Council
A local top-up on top of the mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant (capped nationally at £30,000) for Camden residents whose assessed, reasonable cost of disability-related structural home adaptations exceeds that cap and who have no contribution of their own to make toward the shortfall. Distinct from — and additional to — the national mandatory scheme already covered elsewhere in this directory.
Fylde Council
Fylde Council grants of up to £2,000 from a £20,000 annual pot, for voluntary, community, faith, and self-help groups based in Fylde (or working exclusively with Fylde residents) delivering projects that improve local services and facilities for the borough's communities.
St Helens Borough Council
Small grants for community and voluntary groups in St Helens borough, submitted on their behalf by their local ward councillor rather than directly by the group, to fund projects and activities that support or improve community wellbeing in the local area.
Sandwell Council
Sandwell's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, backed by £7.6m a year for three years (2026-2029), replacing the Household Support Fund. Intended to help residents facing a financial emergency — food, energy bills, and other essentials — alongside longer-term support to manage money, access advice, and improve job prospects. Households not currently receiving means-tested benefits can still apply.
North Lincolnshire Council (delivered by YES Energy Solutions)
North Lincolnshire Council's Warm Homes: Local Grant, delivered locally with community interest company YES Energy Solutions and funded through the 43-authority 'Midlands Net Zero Hub' WHLG consortium, funding insulation and heating upgrades for eligible households with little or no cost to residents.
Herefordshire Council
Herefordshire Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments which ended nationally 31 March 2026, using a £2.817m DWP allocation for 2026/27. Offers cash-first crisis payments for essential living costs (food, energy, housing shortfalls, clothing, furniture, transport), plus longer-term resilience services (income maximisation, debt advice) and community coordination with local voluntary organisations. The council's own page notes a high volume of applications is causing significant delays in processing and responding to enquiries.
Argyll and Bute Council
Small grants for voluntary, community, charity, and social enterprise groups in Argyll and Bute running non-profit projects with a defined social or community purpose across sports, arts, culture, social welfare, or education.
Swindon Borough Council
Swindon Borough Council's Crisis and Resilience Fund, which absorbed the former Swindon Assistance Fund from April 2026 and replaces the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments with an £8.3m allocation to March 2029. Covers crisis support for households facing a sudden financial shock, financial support towards housing costs, funding for services that improve financial resilience, and coordination between local support organisations.
Shropshire Council (administered by Community Resource)
A Shropshire Council-funded small grants programme for grassroots voluntary and community groups, administered locally by the charity Community Resource. Grants of up to £300 support new start-up groups operating less than 12 months; grants of up to £1,000 support established groups (over 12 months old) with annual turnover under £50,000, to build capacity and sustainability.
Mid Ulster District Council
Mid Ulster District Council's main community and voluntary-sector funding programme, spanning three-year cycle grants for ongoing community activity, strategic events and Irish language activity, plus annual capital/feasibility grants and small rolling bursaries.
Act on Energy
Free or subsidised home energy-efficiency improvements — cavity wall, loft, solid wall and floor insulation, air source heat pumps, smart heating controls, and solar panels — for lower-income homeowners and private renters across Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton, and Solihull, delivered as 'Warmer Homes West Midlands' by the charity Act on Energy as the local arm of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant. Many households qualify for fully funded insulation even without claiming a benefit, via each council's ECO Flexible Eligibility Statement of Intent.
Hackney Council
Part of Hackney Council's 2026-27 VCS Grants Programme, funding smaller voluntary and community organisations to strengthen their own capacity, run collaborative learning initiatives, and deliver projects supporting underserved communities — with a specific priority this round on work with children and young people.
Croydon Council
Grants to help independent Croydon businesses improve their shopfronts and enhance the borough's high streets, part of the £500,000 'Croydon Means Business' programme. Covers new shopfronts, signage, windows, doors, external decoration and lighting, and accessibility or energy-efficiency improvements, funded from a £50,000 total pot.
Moray Council
Moray Council fund distributing Scottish Crown Estate marine revenue to coastal community projects, awarding Medium Grants for community-scale projects and Strategic Grants for transformational or multi-community/partnership projects along the Moray coast.
East Lindsey District Council (lead accountable body for the South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership)
Free energy-efficiency upgrades — insulation, efficient heating systems, and related measures — for privately-owned or privately-rented homes with an EPC rating of D, E, F, or G and household income under £36,000 a year. Delivered by the South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership (SELCP), with East Lindsey District Council acting as lead accountable body on behalf of Boston, East Lindsey, and South Holland; funded for a minimum of three years from April 2025, with potential extension to March 2030 subject to a future government Spending Review.
Barnet Council
Barnet's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund (which closed to new Barnet referrals from 5pm on 27 February 2026). Made up of Crisis Payments (one-off cash for sudden, unexpected expenses), Housing Payments (replacing the Discretionary Housing Fund), and Resilience Support (debt advice, income maximisation, budgeting and savings support).
South Ayrshire Council
South Ayrshire Council grant helping business and property owners, and tenants, repair, restore, or reinstate traditional shopfront features in Ayr town centre, part of a £222,000 investment in 'early win' projects under the Ayr Town Centre Framework.
West Berkshire Council
West Berkshire Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, awarded £1.2m/year (around £200k lower than previous Household Support Fund allocations) and running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029. Delivered through four strands: crisis payments (via an application process with wraparound support), housing payments (replacing Discretionary Housing Payments), resilience services, and community coordination.
Canterbury City Council (delivered in partnership with Aran Insulation)
Canterbury City Council's standalone delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, backed by a successful £1.5m central government funding bid and delivered in partnership with Aran Insulation. Funds fully-funded energy-efficiency measures — home insulation, boiler upgrades, and solar panels — for eligible low-income homeowners and private tenants, running until March 2028.
Gravesham Borough Council (delivered in partnership with E.ON)
Gravesham Borough Council's standalone delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, backed by a £1,117,648 government allocation and delivered in partnership with E.ON. Offers a free home survey and fully-funded energy-efficiency measures — insulation, air source heat pumps, and solar panels — for eligible low-income owner-occupiers and private tenants.
Carmarthenshire County Council
Business premises development grant from Carmarthenshire County Council, funding new and existing commercial premises where jobs are being created as a result, with priority given to applications delivering tangible local-economy benefits in key sectors. RE-VERIFICATION (20 Aug 2026): the officialUrl now serves a renamed 'Carmarthenshire Enterprise Fund (CEF)' page (updated 20 Jan 2026) rather than the previously-recorded 'Carmarthenshire Rural Enterprise Fund (CREF)' — the council's own funding index no longer lists a separate CREF, and the rural/sole-trader framing and tiered percentage-by-business-size structure are gone. Title, amount, and eligibility fields below updated to match the current live scheme; slug kept unchanged to avoid breaking existing links.
West Dunbartonshire Council
Smaller-scale match-funded grant from West Dunbartonshire Council for established businesses (i.e. not start-ups) undertaking a project that safeguards or creates local jobs.
London Borough of Bexley
Bexley's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026 and running to 31 March 2029. Four strands: Crisis Support (short-term emergency help), Housing Payments (help with rent shortfalls), Resilience Services, and Community Coordination, assessed against the type of crisis, financial circumstances, outstanding debts, and any other government support already accessed.
Peterborough City Council
Peterborough City Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026, with £3.6m a year (roughly £10.8m over three years to March 2029) to support residents with both short-term crises and longer-term financial resilience. Delivered through a Crisis Payment Scheme, CRF Community Partners (local organisations offering in-person help with applications, advice, and signposting), and Housing Payments.
Northumberland County Council
Northumberland County Council's standalone local delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, branded 'Warmer Homes Northumberland', offering insulation and other energy-efficiency measures plus renewable energy and low-carbon heating for privately-owned and privately-rented homes, backed by a £2.5m DESNZ award. Northumberland also offers grants specifically for households not connected to the gas grid.
South Oxfordshire District Council
South Oxfordshire District Council scheme giving each district councillor up to £7,500 to award to projects and activities benefiting their own ward, covering grants of £250 to £7,500. Eligible applicants include town and parish councils (which can apply on behalf of local unconstituted groups), not-for-profit pre-schools, school PTAs for non-statutory education activities, and other local not-for-profit organisations; capital projects are capped at £15,000 total project cost, with revenue projects having no such cap.
Westmorland and Furness Council
Westmorland and Furness Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund (DWP), replacing the Household Support Fund and running to 31 March 2027 or until fully allocated. Covers food, energy, heating oil, and household essentials for low-income households facing financial hardship, plus a dedicated heating oil support strand for rural households hit by surging oil prices, offering a one-off award of £200-£250 depending on household size (plus £20 per child in full-time education up to 18).
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
Solihull's local delivery of the Crisis Payment and Housing Payment elements of the national Crisis and Resilience Fund, running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 and replacing the Household Support Fund. Covers energy and water costs, food and essential groceries, clothing, essential household items, and housing-related costs, alongside the council's pre-existing Discretionary Crisis Fund (which offers energy costs, essential household items, and food bank referrals, but not cash or loans).
Telford & Wrekin Council
Telford & Wrekin Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026 with a provisional £3.1m/year DWP allocation (around £9.3m across the three years to March 2029). Delivered as Crisis Payments (short-term emergency support, including a home heating oil strand) and Housing Payments (support for residents on Housing Benefit or Universal Credit struggling with rent or other housing costs, to help prevent homelessness).
Bolsover District Council (Midlands Net Zero Hub, delivered by Phoenix Gas Services and Nottingham Energy Partnership)
Free home energy-efficiency and low-carbon heating upgrades for lower-income households in Bolsover and Bassetlaw, delivered jointly by the two councils under a Service Level Agreement and the regional Midlands Net Zero Hub's Warm Homes: Local Grant allocation, worth £2,519,000 in combined DESNZ funding over three years. Bolsover procured Phoenix Gas Services as the installer, with Nottingham Energy Partnership (NEP) acting as the customer-journey/eligibility support partner for both districts — a different delivery route from the Marches Energy Agency-run scheme covering Amber Valley, Chesterfield, Derbyshire Dales and Erewash, and from Nottinghamshire County Council's own Warm Homes: Local Grant scheme covering Gedling, Broxtowe, and Ashfield.
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
Capital grant from Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, funded through Welsh Government's Transforming Towns programme, supporting property improvements, vacant space upgrades, shop frontage works, and residential conversions of upper-floor commercial space across the county borough's six designated town centres.
Islington Council
Islington's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — allocated £4.1m for April 2026-March 2027 (£1.2m for Crisis Payments, £800,000 for Housing Payments, £1.5m for support services such as debt advice/benefits guidance/employment help, and £600,000 for access and community work including the Poverty Truth Commission and food bank support). The council has merged its former Resident Support Scheme into the CRF, giving residents one fund and one application form rather than several separate schemes.
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
Council-funded small grants for local third-sector organisations in Hammersmith and Fulham needing help to start or deliver specific services or activities, prioritising groups the council doesn't already fund. A lighter-touch route into council funding than the borough's larger commissioned VCS contracts.
Haringey Council
Haringey's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — using a £5.93m 2026-27 government allocation (with £2.47m committed to maintaining existing provision while the full local policy is developed) to support residents facing a sudden financial shock or crisis. Delivered through the council's 'Haringey, Here to Help' service, covering both emergency crisis support and a separate Housing Payment strand for residents already receiving Housing Benefit or Universal Credit housing costs who need extra help with rent.
Derbyshire County Council (Housing Payments delivered by district/borough councils)
Derbyshire County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from April 2026 and running for three years to March 2029. The county council administers the bulk of the fund (crisis grants and resilience services), expected to become fully available from autumn 2026, while CRF Housing Payments — replacing Discretionary Housing Payments — are already live and delivered locally by each of Derbyshire's 8 district/borough councils, all of which are now covered by this directory.
Rugby Borough Council
Rugby Borough Council's shopfront improvement scheme for the town centre, offering businesses and landlords an enabling grant of up to £5,000 towards design and planning approval costs, followed by a works grant of up to £20,000 to fund the physical improvements. Targets premises that are visibly in poor condition and negatively affecting the area, starting with Sheep Street and High Street in year one before expanding to North Street, Railway Terrace, and Albert Street in later years.
London Borough of Hounslow
Hounslow Council's grants programme for not-for-profit organisations and resident groups working to improve residents' lives and strengthen communities, split into three strands: Small Grants (local community projects on wellbeing, social isolation, and community cohesion — £22,650 awarded across 42 projects in 2025-26), Sustainability Grants (unrestricted core funding plus tailored support for organisations — £267,827.72 to 14 groups in 2025-26), and Capital Grants (lasting community infrastructure — £110,031 to four organisations in 2025-26).
North Lincolnshire Council
A Crisis and Resilience Fund strand giving North Lincolnshire households that rely on heating oil — not protected by the national energy price cap that covers gas and electricity — a £300 one-off payment towards essential energy costs. Almost 1,400 households had received the payment at research time, putting over £400,000 back into rural communities.
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Capital grants to property owners renovating long-term vacant commercial units in Bangor City and Newtownards Town Centre, part of the council's wider Supporting Thriving High Streets Programme to boost footfall and bring empty premises back into use.
Dumfries and Galloway Council
Grant for constituted community groups anywhere in Dumfries and Galloway, supporting projects on skills development, community/environment/culture/heritage, community-led tourism, affordable housing, community transport, digital connectivity, poverty and inequalities, net zero, and cost of living.
Vale of Glamorgan Council
Grant fund from Vale of Glamorgan Council supporting community groups, the voluntary sector, and town/community councils with projects that build organisational resilience, deliver placemaking, or respond to cost-of-living and climate-change priorities.
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Grants toward external shopfront painting and façade power-washing for commercial premises in Ards and North Down's town and city centres, aimed at improving the visual appeal of the high street rather than funding structural works.
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council
Capital grants to owners of vacant commercial premises within rural settlements across Fermanagh and Omagh, encouraging investment to enhance the settlement's appearance, attract tenants, and reduce long-term vacancy, as part of the council's wider Village & Rural Regeneration programme.
Monmouthshire County Council
Single access point from Monmouthshire County Council for two capital grants — the Town Centre Property Improvement Grant and the GrowthSpace Grant — supporting property improvements, bringing vacant buildings back into use, and unlocking sites with potential for business growth and employment space.
Lambeth Council
Lambeth's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — branded the Emergency Support Scheme, for residents facing a crisis, emergency, or disaster who cannot afford essentials. Also covers people being resettled from institutional care and those setting up a home as part of a planned resettlement programme. Decisions aim to be made within 24 hours for crisis support and 72 hours for community-care support.
Warrington Borough Council
Warrington Borough Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended 31 March 2026, running to 31 March 2029. Provides support for residents having financial difficulties or struggling to pay for essential living or housing costs, alongside a local support scheme aimed at building longer-term financial resilience and reducing repeat crisis applications.
Torfaen County Borough Council
UK Shared Prosperity Fund-backed grant scheme from Torfaen County Borough Council helping community groups improve buildings, buy equipment, or deliver activities that encourage healthy lifestyles, reduce social isolation, or tackle anti-social behaviour.
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council
Grants for community and voluntary groups in Newry, Mourne and Down to deliver Good Relations-themed projects, part of the council's wider Financial Assistance Programme which is 75% funded by The Executive Office and 25% by the council.
Tower Hamlets Council
A distinct council-funded (not CRF-funded) scheme protecting Tower Hamlets households with combined income below £60,000/year — who are not already receiving Council Tax Reduction Scheme support — from the annual council tax percentage increase, currently 2.99%. First established for 2024-25 and built into the council's medium-term financial strategy as an ongoing commitment, it sits alongside (not instead of) the mandatory Council Tax Reduction Scheme, which offers up to 100% discounts for the lowest-income households.
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council
Small rolling grants for community and voluntary organisations in Causeway Coast and Glens delivering good relations and community-cohesion activities, one of several small grant streams on the council's annual Open Grant Programmes hub.
Conwy County Borough Council
Discretionary capital grant of £500–£1,500, covering up to 50% of eligible costs, from Conwy County Borough Council supporting the growth of established Conwy businesses, social enterprises, and farm diversification projects. Applicants must have been actively trading for over 6 months, be registered with HMRC, and rely on the business as their main source of employment (25+ hours/week) or income. Previously funded businesses can't reapply within 3 years of drawdown, and updated eligibility criteria apply to applications from 1 March 2026 onwards.
Westminster City Council
Westminster City Council's new £11 million, three-year Crisis and Resilience Fund (April 2026 to March 2029) — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — combining emergency financial support, professional debt/financial advice, and community-based interventions. Re-checked in September 2026: the fund is now live on a phased basis — Housing Payments and the referral-based 'Westminster Crisis Scheme' (delivered by North Paddington Foodbank, offering Crisis Payments towards essential living costs plus a personalised Resilience Action Plan) are both operating, alongside Financial Resilience Officers, Citizens Advice Westminster's specialist debt/welfare benefits advisors, and Age UK Westminster's Income Maximisation service. Further strands (specialist debt advice, youth resilience support) are still described as rolling out through autumn 2026.
City of York Council
City of York Council's £4.8m Crisis and Resilience Fund, running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 and replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments (crisis payments also absorb the former York Financial Assistance Scheme, YFAS). Delivered across four strands: Crisis Payment, Housing Payment, Resilience Services, and Community Coordination.
Isle of Anglesey County Council (via Menter Môn's Enterprise Hub)
UK Shared Prosperity Fund grant for Anglesey businesses, administered by Menter Môn's Enterprise Hub on behalf of the Isle of Anglesey County Council, supporting new business start-ups and the development of existing enterprises.
Cheshire East Council
Cheshire East Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, launched 20 April 2026 and running to March 2029, replacing the Household Support Fund. Covers crisis payments, heating oil assistance, essential household items (white goods and beds), housing cost support, community resilience services, and exceptional cost support, with key elements available from April 2026 and further developments going live throughout the year.
Bassetlaw District Council
Bassetlaw District Council grant of up to £3,000 for micro and small enterprises (fewer than 50 employees) trading independently in Worksop town centre or elsewhere in the district, drawn from a £120,000 capital allocation within the council's Pride in Place Programme (part of a wider £20 million, 10-year Pride in Place allocation to Worksop) rather than UKSPF as previously recorded. Runs April 2026 to March 2027, first-come-first-served.
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) / Rural Payments Agency
A funded annual vet visit for England's cattle, sheep, pig and poultry keepers, plus a follow-up payment for tackling an endemic disease identified during that visit — part of Defra's long-term Animal Health and Welfare Pathway, developed jointly with industry. Covers the vet's diagnostic testing, biosecurity/medicines review, and bespoke advice, plus (for the follow-up) actions such as disease testing or vaccination against a priority endemic disease. Payment rates for both the review and the follow-up increased by an average of 16% from 22 January 2026, though published figures for the exact per-species amounts vary between sources re-checked in September 2026 (do not rely on a single figure without checking the live 'How much you can claim' guidance). You can claim up to 3 reviews and 3 follow-ups per species before June 2027.
Halton Borough Council
Halton Borough Council's local crisis scheme, funded through the Crisis and Resilience Fund (successor to the Household Support Fund) as 'a local solution to replace elements of the Social Fund'. Unlike most councils' cash-first CRF schemes, Halton's is delivered entirely as non-cash support: Emergency Support (food, toiletries, household items, and fuel, delivered as parcels) for an immediate serious risk to health or safety, and Community Support (beds, bedding, kitchen equipment, seating, removal expenses, paid directly to suppliers) for vulnerable people establishing or maintaining independence.
Welsh Government / Rural Payments Wales
Wales' current farm equipment and technology capital grant, the nearest equivalent to England's FETF — funds items to improve productivity, resource efficiency, animal health and welfare, and farm safety across more than 100 eligible capital items, spanning livestock handling and animal health equipment, precision farming technology, slurry management, grain storage and monitoring, digital farm management systems, and water management. Succeeds the earlier windowed 'Small Grants - Efficiency' scheme (window 5 closed 27 February 2026). Sources re-checked in September 2026 give conflicting signals on whether this now sits inside the Sustainable Farming Scheme's Optional Layer or runs as a standalone scheme outside it — treat that positioning as unconfirmed even though the funding mechanics themselves (amount, rate, RPW Online application route) are consistent across sources.
Chesterfield Borough Council
Chesterfield Borough Council's Community Grants Fund for 2026-2028, offering grants of £500-£6,000 to not-for-profit community/voluntary organisations, plus a larger capital-projects strand of up to £50,000, funded by the Community Infrastructure Levy Neighbourhoods portion and the Chesterfield Town Board's government-funded Pride in Place programme. Over £250,000 is available across two tranches in 2026/27.
Derbyshire Dales District Council
Ward councillor-allocated small grants for local groups in Derbyshire Dales, funding one-off projects, ongoing activities, and sustainable longer-term community projects. Each ward councillor has £2,000/year to allocate; individual grants range from £100 up to £900 (single-councillor ward) or £1,000 (two-or-more-councillor ward, or an application spanning more than one ward).
HM Treasury / HM Revenue & Customs (accounts held with ISA providers)
A savings account for a first home or for later life that pays a 25% government bonus on whatever you put in — up to £4,000 a year, so up to £1,000 a year of free money, paid monthly rather than at the end. You have to open it before you turn 40 and can keep paying in (and earning the bonus) until you're 50. Used for a first home, the property has to cost £450,000 or less; otherwise the money is locked until you're 60, because taking it out for any other reason costs a 25% withdrawal charge that claws back more than the bonus added. HM Treasury consulted during 2026 on replacing it with a simpler First Time Buyer ISA (bonus paid as a lump sum at purchase, no withdrawal charge, no retirement use) — no launch date has been published, and the consultation confirms LISAs can still be opened and paid into under existing rules until then.
Department for Work and Pensions
Grant funding practical, workplace-based support for disabled people and those with a long-term health condition — e.g. specialist equipment, a support worker or job coach, BSL interpreters, travel costs, or mental health support — to help them start, stay in, or move into work in England, Scotland or Wales.
Hull City Council
Hull City Council's Crisis Payments (CPs) and Resilience Grants (RGs), delivered through the local Crisis and Resilience Fund which replaced the Household Support Fund. Crisis Payments help residents unable to meet immediate short-term needs during a crisis or disaster, covering costs such as daily living essentials (food, toiletries, fuel) and repaying emergency credit on a gas or electric prepayment meter so supply can be maintained or restored. Crisis Payments can no longer be awarded for emergency accommodation.
Homes England (Greater London Authority in London); homes sold and managed by housing associations
Part-buy, part-rent: you buy a share of a housing association home and pay rent on the rest, which cuts the deposit and mortgage you need. Under the current programme rules you can start from as little as 10% (most homes are offered between 25% and 75%), and rent on the share you don't own is capped at 3% of its value a year at first sale, with providers encouraged to average no more than 2.75%. Newer homes come with a 990-year lease and a 10-year 'initial repair period' during which the landlord — not you — picks up essential repair and maintenance costs, and you can staircase up in 1% steps for the first 15 years rather than being forced into 5% or 10% chunks. Household income has to be £80,000 a year or less (£90,000 in London).
Devon County Council (Housing support delivered by district/city councils)
Devon County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended 31 March 2026, backed by around £8.4m/year for three years (2026/27 to 2028/29). Delivered across four strands: Crisis payments for people in immediate financial difficulty, Housing support (delivered by district/city councils, replacing Discretionary Housing Payments), Financial resilience services (money management and debt advice), and Community funding to strengthen local advice networks. Confirmed live and available across Devon's district/city councils and via Citizens Advice Devon as of May 2026.
London Borough of Lewisham
Lewisham's general Crisis and Resilience Fund Crisis Payment strand — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — for residents facing a sudden financial crisis. Confirmed newly live in the September 2026 research pass, at a separate URL from the long-running Housing Payment strand (see separate entry) which had already been live since the scheme's launch.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (delivered by developers via planning obligations, administered locally)
Lets eligible first-time buyers purchase a new-build home at a discount of 30% to 50% off its market value, with the discount locked into the title so it passes to the next first-time buyer when you sell. Income has to be £80,000 a year or less (£90,000 in London) and you need a mortgage covering at least half the price. Worth treating with care in practice: the December 2024 revision of the National Planning Policy Framework removed the requirement that a quarter of affordable housing be delivered as First Homes, the scheme is not among the tenures funded by the Social and Affordable Homes Programme 2026–2036, and its detailed planning guidance has not been updated since December 2021 — so it is still formally open but supply is thin and geographically patchy.
Merton Council
Merton's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 with a 2026/27 allocation of £2,258,442 (of which £430,653 is ringfenced for Housing Payments). Combines a Crisis Payment strand — emergency financial relief for low-income households facing unexpected financial pressure, delivered on the council's behalf by Wimbledon Guild — with a separate Housing Payment strand, plus longer-term 'Further Funded Support' covering benefit maximisation, debt and disability advice, home energy checks, and dedicated Carers Crisis Prevention Support and a Carers Discretionary Grant for unpaid carers.
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Richmond upon Thames Council's funding for local town and village centre associations and business improvement groups, aimed at maintaining and growing high street vitality — improving the trading environment, making centres more attractive to visitors, and helping attract investment or fill empty units. Funds initiatives and events that raise a retail area's profile or address shared local business issues, with funded groups expected to work toward the borough-wide Retail Alliance and become self-sustaining within roughly three years.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (applications made to your council or housing landlord)
Lets most secure council tenants in England buy their home at a discount once they've had a public sector landlord for 3 years. Houses start at a 35% discount (rising 1% for each year beyond 5), flats at 50% (rising 2% a year beyond 5), but the total is capped at whichever is lower of 70% of the property's value or a regional cash maximum — and since 21 November 2024 those caps are far smaller than they used to be, ranging from £16,000 in London to £38,000 in the South East. Discounts are also reduced by what your landlord has spent building or maintaining the home in the last 30 years, and you normally repay some or all of the discount if you sell within 5 years.
Local councils (Scotland and Wales); Northern Ireland Housing Executive (Northern Ireland)
Extra, discretionary help towards housing costs for renters already getting Housing Benefit or the Universal Credit housing element — used for shortfalls caused by the bedroom tax or benefit cap, for rent that exceeds the Local Housing Allowance, and for one-off costs like a tenancy deposit, rent in advance, or removal expenses. There is no fixed amount: each award is judged case by case against your circumstances and the administering body's budget, and payments are usually time-limited. In England the statutory scheme was abolished on 1 April 2026 and absorbed into the Crisis and Resilience Fund's Housing Payment strand, so English applicants should look for that instead (often still signposted locally under the old DHP name).
Land & Property Services and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive
Northern Ireland's narrower, age-restricted counterpart to Great Britain's Council Tax single-person discount: a 20% reduction on domestic rates for homeowners and tenants aged 70 or over who live alone. Unlike the GB discount, it isn't available to sole occupants of any age — only pensioners aged 70+ — reflecting Northern Ireland's structurally different rates system.
Burnley Council
Burnley Council rental support covering up to 3 months' rent for a new 12-month lease, or up to 6 months' rent for a lease of 3 years or more, to help new start-ups and existing businesses occupy ground-floor town-centre premises that have stood vacant for 3 months or more.
Scottish Government, administered by Link Group (Link Housing) nationwide
Part of the Scottish Government's Low-cost Initiative for First Time Buyers (LIFT). You buy a home on the open market and the Scottish Government takes a 10%–40% equity stake, so you only need a mortgage and deposit for the rest — and if you're 60 or over with a housing need, you don't need a mortgage at all. Priority goes to first-time buyers, council and housing association tenants, disabled people with a housing need, serving armed forces members, veterans who left in the last two years, and bereaved partners of service personnel. Maximum purchase prices are set per council area and per property size rather than nationally, and were uprated by a further 4.2% in line with Scottish median house price growth.
HEAT Essex (delivery partnership on behalf of Braintree District Council, Brentwood Borough Council, Castle Point Borough Council and other Essex districts)
Free home energy-efficiency improvements — boiler upgrades, central heating, loft/cavity wall insulation, and solar installations — for lower-income households, delivered through the HEAT Essex partnership under the government's Warm Homes: Local Grant scheme. HEAT Essex delivers across thirteen Essex districts/boroughs — Braintree, Brentwood, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Colchester, Epping Forest, Harlow, Maldon, Rochford, Southend-on-Sea, Tendring, Thurrock and Uttlesford (Basildon runs its own separate scheme, explicitly excluded from HEAT Essex delivery per Basildon's own page — see the standalone Basildon entry in this directory). The scheme was confirmed 'temporarily oversubscribed' due to high demand at research time, with some applications placed on hold for review.
Bristol City Council
Grants toward the one-off setup costs of taking on a vacant commercial property in Bristol's city centre or one of 46 designated high streets — fitting out, signage, and similar costs of getting a new unit trading. Not intended for ongoing running costs. Co-funded by Bristol City Council, the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, and a residual UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocation; worth double-checking funding hasn't been curtailed early given UKSPF itself ended nationally on 31 March 2026.
Braintree District Council
Braintree District Council's Councillors' Community Grant scheme, giving each ward councillor up to £1,500 (for 2026/27, up from £1,250) to fund local projects and initiatives — building improvements, playground equipment, vehicles, recreation and sports facilities, IT equipment, event costs, and energy-efficiency measures. Councillors may pool their allocations for joint projects.
Norfolk County Council
Norfolk County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended nationally 31 March 2026, running under a three-year 2026-29 settlement (£11.2m allocated for the first year, 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027). Combines responsive crisis help — direct financial support plus budgeting advice, digital support, debt guidance, and referrals into other services — with a Housing Payment strand (replacing Discretionary Housing Payments) administered locally by each of Norfolk's district and borough councils, and a £3.25m investment in voluntary-sector organisations delivering outreach and tailored support.
Broadland District Council
Broadland District Council's councillor-led grant scheme funding substantial community initiatives that enhance local facilities or improve residents' quality of life, with grants of £1,000 to £15,000 from a £50,000 annual fund. Local district councillors propose applications on behalf of community groups, which are then reviewed by a Community Grant Scheme panel.
Tower Hamlets Council
Tower Hamlets's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029, delivered through the long-standing Resident Support Scheme (crisis payments — food, essential living costs, gas/electric prepayment meters, and in some cases white goods/furniture) plus a separate Housing Payment strand for residents receiving Housing Benefit or the Universal Credit housing element who need help bridging a rent shortfall. Uniquely among this batch, the crisis-payment route is explicitly open to all residents regardless of benefit status.
Wandsworth Borough Council
Wandsworth's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 with a 2026/27 allocation of £3,772,569 (including £1,030,000 for Crisis Payments and £881,000 for Housing Payments). Replaces the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments in full, structured around four strands: Crisis support, Housing support, Resilience support, and Community Co-ordination. Holiday food vouchers have ceased under CRF, with funding redirected to the Holiday Activities and Food Programme and Family Hub food pantries instead.
Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority (HEYCA)
Capital investment grants of £5,000-£250,000 (loans of £75,000-£250,000 also available, or a blend of both) for established, profitable businesses in Hull and East Yorkshire pursuing a growth project that drives productivity. Delivered by the Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority (HEYCA), formed in February 2025 as the successor to the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership, which was wound down when national LEP core funding ended in April 2024 — HEYCA covers only Hull and East Riding, not the full former Humber LEP footprint, since North and North East Lincolnshire now sit within the separate Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority.
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council
UK Shared Prosperity Fund capital grant from Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council helping micro and small/medium enterprises start up, grow, or diversify, covering capital equipment, plant and machinery, internal renovation works, energy efficiency measures, and new website development.
Cotswold District Council
A rolling grant of up to £625 from Cotswold District Council towards the community purchase of a public-access defibrillator. Intended to help parish councils, community groups, and residents' associations improve local emergency-response provision across the Cotswold district.
London Borough of Waltham Forest
Waltham Forest Council's 2026 Community Chest round, funding community-led projects that use food to build skills, improve wellbeing, and strengthen food security — explicitly encouraging approaches that go beyond a traditional food bank or soup kitchen, such as community meals, cooking groups, food co-operatives, and growing projects. Part of the council's wider social-prescribing grant programme for small-to-medium community groups.
Welsh Government, administered by Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council on behalf of participating local authorities
Grants of up to £25,000 to renovate a long-term empty property in Wales and bring it back into use as your own home — covering work to make it safe to live in and to improve its energy efficiency. The property must have been empty and substantially unfurnished for at least 12 months when you apply, you must own it or be buying it, and you have to live in it as your only main residence for at least 5 years after the work finishes. Applicants contribute a minimum 15% of eligible costs. It runs nationally, but delivery is through one authority: Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council administers it for the whole of Wales.
Bedford Borough Council
A currently live Bedford Borough Council scheme providing a contribution toward heating oil costs for residents whose homes are off the gas grid, funded through the council's Crisis and Resilience Fund allocation ahead of the fund's wider launch. Targets households at immediate risk of being unable to heat their home.
Blackpool Council (consortium lead)
Free energy-efficiency improvements — air source heat pumps, solar panels, battery storage, and insulation — for lower-income households across most of Lancashire, delivered through the Blackpool-led Lancashire consortium ('Cosy Homes in Lancashire') under the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, which received over £35m in total consortium funding.
Wrexham County Borough Council
Welsh Government Transforming Towns-funded retrospective capital grant from Wrexham County Borough Council helping owners and leaseholders of retail and commercial buildings in Wrexham city centre carry out external improvement and energy-efficiency works.
Mid Ulster District Council
Capital grants for existing rural micro-businesses in Mid Ulster to buy equipment, machinery, computer equipment/software, or build an e-commerce website, funded through DAERA's Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation Programme and delivered locally by the council.
Gosport Borough Council
Gosport Borough Council grants of up to £50,000 (plus separate Development Grants of up to £5,000 to help put a bid together) for the enhancement of local built and cultural heritage, open to local organisations and businesses. Projects must address at least one of five priorities: removing a property from the Heritage at Risk register, enhancing the townscape/setting of a heritage asset, improving sustainability, creating employment or sustainable future use, or enhancing public access/interpretation.
Local authorities (Wales)
Wales' mandatory home adaptations grant, worth up to £36,000 — for work like widening doors, fitting a stairlift, putting in a level-access shower, or lowering kitchen units so a disabled person can carry on living at home. Local authorities can choose to pay more than the cap at their discretion. Since April 2021 the means test has been removed for small and medium adaptations, and adaptations for children and young people are not means-tested either, so the financial assessment mainly bites on larger works for adults.
Blackpool Council
Blackpool Council's local Crisis Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 31 March 2026, with £3.8m allocated for 2026/27 across four strands: crisis payments (needs-based help with essential costs in an emergency), housing payments (help toward housing costs), resilience services (advice strengthening financial resilience), and community coordination (joining up local services and voluntary groups).
Brighton & Hove City Council
Brighton & Hove City Council's crisis payment scheme, funded through the Crisis and Resilience Fund and replacing the Household Support Fund from April 2026. Provides emergency vouchers (not cash) toward food and groceries, gas and electricity, essential household items such as beds, cookers, or fridges, and other emergency support.
Rushmoor Borough Council
Rushmoor Borough Council grants of up to £15,000 for not-for-profit organisations delivering projects in Aldershot and Farnborough that create community cohesion and a sense of belonging and togetherness — including uniting diverse communities, creating safe spaces for dialogue, supporting youth resilience, and promoting shared values, in line with the council's 'Rushmoor Together' plan.
Northern Ireland Co-Ownership Housing Association, funded by the Department for Communities
Northern Ireland's shared ownership scheme, and effectively the only home-purchase help in NI beyond the Housing Executive's own tenant sales. You buy a share of between 50% and 90% of a home — chosen to fit your budget — and Co-Ownership buys the rest, charging a modest rent on its share while you pay a mortgage only on yours. Property value limits rose to £215,000 for existing homes in April 2026, with a higher £230,000 limit for new builds. The Department for Communities has committed £153 million of funding to help around 4,000 households over four years.
NBSL, on behalf of the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority
Grants of £3,000-£8,000, covering up to 50% of eligible project costs, for trading SMEs in Newcastle, North Tyneside, and Northumberland to fund external expertise supporting business growth or resilience. Delivered by NBSL on behalf of the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority through its Integrated Settlement — a sub-region within the wider North East Growth Hub footprint, distinct from the North East Combined Authority-wide schemes (e.g. the North Tyneside shopfront-improvement entry) already in this directory.
Test Valley Borough Council
Test Valley Borough Council grants of up to two-thirds of a project or activity's cost, capped at £1,000, for not-for-profit community groups, charities, voluntary groups, clubs, parish/town councils, and schools (in their wider community role) delivering projects addressing environmental sustainability, inclusivity, community assets, events, or public art.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority
GMCA-administered local delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, funding free or subsidised insulation, solar panels, heat pumps, and other low-carbon heating and energy-efficiency upgrades for lower-income households across all ten Greater Manchester boroughs. Owner-occupiers can receive fully funded improvements; private landlords can access match-style grants toward a higher cap, conditional on registering as a Good Landlord Charter supporter.
Test Valley Borough Council
Test Valley Borough Council grants of £1,000-£10,000, covering up to 80% of project costs, to help rural businesses and community/charitable organisations in the borough with capital investment and some one-off revenue costs (such as training) — covering uses like refurbishing rural pubs/shops, community ventures (business hubs, food pantries, childcare), farm diversification, and traditional rural trades. £100,000 is available for 2025/26 and a further £100,000 for 2026/27.
Dacorum Borough Council
Dacorum Borough Council grants of up to £550 for charities, community/voluntary groups, sports clubs, and informal groups, for new projects, one-off events, or equipment — a simpler, lower-value companion scheme to the council's main Community Grant. The 2026/27 round closes midday, 30 September 2026.
Menter Môn (on behalf of Isle of Anglesey County Council / Arfor)
Grant delivered by Menter Môn as part of the Arfor programme, helping Anglesey businesses of all sizes increase their use of the Welsh language in day-to-day operations, customer service, and the visitor experience.
South Tyneside Council
South Tyneside's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — with a first-year (2026/27) allocation of £3,018,223, running to 31 March 2029. Four strands: Crisis Payments (via the Welfare Support Team and Local Assistance Fund), Housing Payments (formerly Discretionary Housing Payments), Resilience Services (Community Shops, the Community Food Bus, Citizens Advice, Social Navigators), and Community Coordination (Green Doctor energy advice, Care Leavers packs, carer support).
Amber Valley Borough Council, Chesterfield Borough Council, Derbyshire Dales District Council, Erewash Borough Council, High Peak Borough Council and South Derbyshire District Council (Midlands Net Zero Hub, delivered by Marches Energy Agency)
Free home energy-efficiency improvements — wall/floor/loft insulation, new windows and doors, draught-proofing, heating upgrades, smart controls, solar panels/batteries, and air source heat pumps — for lower-income households across Amber Valley, Chesterfield, Derbyshire Dales, Erewash, High Peak and South Derbyshire, delivered under the shared 'Warmer Derby and Derbyshire' branding by Marches Energy Agency (MEA) as part of the regional Midlands Net Zero Hub's £69.9m Warm Homes: Local Grant allocation.
South Hams District Council and West Devon Borough Council
Free home energy-efficiency upgrades — double glazing, cavity wall and loft insulation, insulated doors, air source heat pumps, and solar PV — for lower-income households across South Hams and West Devon, backed by £1.6m of Warm Homes: Local Grant funding and delivered locally (South Dartmoor Community Energy and Tamar Energy Community are both associated with the scheme's delivery). Builds on the earlier Home Upgrade Grant (HUG2), which improved 39 homes in West Devon, aiming to support up to 80 further households over three years.
North Tyneside Council
Grants to improve the external appearance of retail premises — new signage, shopfronts, lighting, and improved access — across North Tyneside's Wallsend, North Shields, and North West (Weetslade, Camperdown, Killingworth) town centres and high streets, funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund via the former North of Tyne Combined Authority and now administered by the North East Combined Authority.
Darlington Borough Council (delivered by Citizens Advice Darlington, Redcar and Cleveland)
Darlington Borough Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029, delivered by Citizens Advice Darlington, Redcar and Cleveland (building on their existing Crisis Payments and Benefit Entitlement Action Team experience). Provides short-term crisis support to low-income households alongside longer-term resilience-building — counselling, specialist advice, referrals, and employability coaching toward sustainable financial stability.
North East Derbyshire District Council (Midlands Net Zero Hub, delivered by Sustainable Building Services (UK) Ltd)
Free home energy-efficiency improvements — insulation, solar panels and battery storage, and low-carbon heating — for lower-income households in North East Derbyshire, branded 'Warm Homes North East Derbyshire' and delivered by appointed installer Sustainable Building Services (UK) Ltd, funded by a £5.1m Warm Homes: Local Grant allocation via the regional Midlands Net Zero Hub. A separate £3.8m Warm Homes Social Housing Fund award covers energy upgrades to council-owned homes managed by Rykneld Homes, which is not part of this resident-facing grant.
Mid Devon District Council
Mid Devon District Council's capital grant scheme supporting local SMEs, social enterprises, and charity-owned or community-managed village halls, parish halls and community centres to reduce their carbon footprint. Grants of £500 to £5,000 cover up to 50% of eligible project costs (total project cost must be under £30,000 including VAT), for measures such as renewable energy installation, energy-efficient lighting, insulation, water efficiency and waste reduction.
City of Doncaster Council
Discretionary council top-up funding on top of the mandatory national Disabled Facilities Grant (capped at £30,000), for Doncaster residents whose adaptation costs exceed the mandatory cap and who cannot fund the excess themselves. Covers discretionary funding above £30,000, help with a means-tested client contribution in cases of genuine hardship, funding for equipment/adaptations that fall outside mandatory DFG criteria (particularly for children with challenging behaviours), relocation costs up to £5,000 where moving to an already-adapted or adaptable property is more practical than adapting the current home, and extended warranties on stairlifts, vertical lifts, and step lifts.
Walsall Council
Walsall's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029, replacing the Household Support Fund, Discretionary Housing Payments, and existing crisis support. Provides Crisis Payments for urgent financial emergencies and Housing Payments for residents struggling with rent, covering shocks such as sudden income loss, unexpected bills, a change in benefits, illness, caring responsibilities, or a family emergency.
Dudley Council
Dudley's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments from 1 April 2026. Provides quick, flexible payments for households facing immediate financial hardship, a Housing Payment strand for residents struggling with housing costs, and links to wider services (income, debt, housing, wellbeing) intended to build longer-term financial resilience rather than just one-off relief.
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council
Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's standalone delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, backed by an in-principle £1,382,964 government allocation running to 31 March 2028. Funds home upgrades such as insulation, solar panels and heat pumps for eligible low-income households to reduce energy bills.
Durham County Council
Durham County Council's standalone Warm Homes: Local Grant allocation (around £2.06m from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero), delivering fully funded or heavily subsidised energy-efficiency and low-carbon heating upgrades — improved ventilation, loft and cavity wall insulation, air source heat pumps, smart heating controls, and solar PV — to up to 140 eligible off-gas-grid homes over three years. Procured via the North East Procurement Organisation, with Esh Construction appointed to deliver the works.
City of Wolverhampton Council
Grants of up to £5,000 for small and independent retailers and businesses on Wolverhampton's high streets — city centre, Bilston, Wednesfield, and others — covering shopfront/frontage improvements, interior or external refurbishment, and digital/marketing/security upgrades. Council funding for the programme was increased from an initial £400,000 to £650,000 for 2026/27 after high demand.
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
Barking and Dagenham's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, worth approximately £11m over three years (2026-2029), replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments. Covers Crisis Payments and Move-in Packs (furniture/appliances for residents moving into an unfurnished property) and Housing Payments (£727,763 allocated for 2026/27) for residents needing emergency support with rent or moving costs.
Durham County Council
A £1.2m Durham County Council fund (£100,000 per Local Network area) supporting community groups, schools, and other organisations across County Durham with grants of £5,000 to £10,000 per project. Projects must address at least one priority area: community safety, employment/jobs/skills, health and wellbeing, environment, education, housing, or culture/heritage/events.
Scottish Government (Mortgage to Rent purchases made by councils and housing associations)
A Scottish Government safety net for homeowners at risk of losing their home through mortgage or secured-loan arrears. It works two ways: Mortgage to Rent lets a council or housing association buy your home so you stay on as a tenant, and Mortgage to Shared Equity lets the Scottish Government buy up to 30% of your property, cutting your mortgage to an affordable level while you keep ownership of the rest. Both are aimed at people whose arrears are genuinely unmanageable rather than a short-term blip, and independent money advice is part of the process.
Brent Council
Brent's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, branded the Resident Support Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments from 1 April 2026 and running to March 2029 with a £7.8m annual allocation. Covers crisis payments for day-to-day essentials (food, utilities, white goods), a Housing Payment strand for housing-cost help, and wraparound support delivered through the council's community hubs and wellbeing service, including a dedicated Well and Warm strand for older and vulnerable residents facing high energy costs.
Welsh Government, delivered by housing associations / registered social landlords
Wales' part-buy, part-rent route into home ownership: you buy an initial share of between 25% and 75% of a property's value from a housing association and pay rent on the share you don't own, with the option to staircase up later. Homes are delivered by registered social landlords, and in North and Mid Wales the usual way in is the Tai Teg register. There's no published national price cap or income limit — eligibility is set by the landlord for each scheme, which is why availability and criteria vary noticeably between areas.
Pendle Borough Council
Pendle Borough Council grants of up to 50% of eligible costs, capped at £3,000, for improving commercial shopfronts and premises within the town centre boundaries of Barrowford, Brierfield, Colne, or Nelson.
East Dunbartonshire Council
Discretionary grant of up to £1,500 for East Dunbartonshire businesses to help them grow, covering costs incurred in line with a development plan prepared together with a Business Gateway adviser. Award size depends on the agreed plan, up to that maximum, and is open to any business based and trading in East Dunbartonshire.
Department for Work and Pensions (Social Fund) / Department for Communities (Northern Ireland)
A one-off £500 payment to help with the costs of a new baby, for low-income families in England, Wales and Northern Ireland expecting their first child, or expecting a multiple birth (twins, triplets) while already having children. Administered by the Department for Work and Pensions' Social Fund in England and Wales, and by the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland under the same claim form and base rate — not a devolved replacement, just a different claim-handling body and postal address. Scotland has no Sure Start Maternity Grant at all; Scottish residents instead apply for the different, more generous Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment — see the separate entry.
Ashford Borough Council
Ashford Borough Council's standalone delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, open since 1 April 2025 for three years, with whole-project retrofit funding averaging around £12,500 per household. Uses a 'fabric first' approach — insulation before renewables — covering loft, cavity and external wall insulation, windows and doors, solar panels, air source heat pumps, and high heat retention storage heaters, fully funded for owner-occupiers with no landlord contribution needed for a first rented property.
Medway Council (delivered by E.ON)
Medway Council's standalone Warm Homes: Local Grant allocation (£1,305,900, an individual DESNZ grant rather than part of a wider consortium), delivered in partnership with E.ON, offering up to £30,000 per household — up to £15,000 for energy-performance measures (insulation, solar PV, energy-efficient doors and windows) and up to £15,000 for low-carbon heating such as heat pumps.
Isle of Wight Council
Isle of Wight Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, launched 1 April 2026 with around £2.2m a year in government funding for three years, replacing the Household Support Fund. Provides emergency crisis payments, housing-related support for residents struggling to meet rental costs, income advice, debt support, budgeting guidance, and 'warm referrals' connecting residents directly to relevant support services, delivered in partnership with voluntary and community organisations.
Luton Borough Council
Luton Borough Council's Crisis and Resilience Fund, running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 and replacing the Household Support Fund, provides short-term emergency financial support for an unexpected financial crisis (Crisis Payment) and a separate Housing Payment strand, alongside connections to longer-term financial security services. The council confirms applying does not affect a resident's benefit status.
Medway Council
Medway Council's Shop Front Improvement Grant (SFIG), funded by £300,000 of government Pride in Place money, offers independent retail and hospitality businesses in Medway up to £5,000 to improve their shopfront — repairs, repainting, signage, lighting, and structural/accessibility works. Grants are limited to one per business and conditional on securing any necessary planning or listed-building consent.
Land & Property Services and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive
Northern Ireland's structural equivalent of Council Tax Reduction — Northern Ireland has no Council Tax, using a separate domestic rates system instead, so low-income help is delivered as a Rate Rebate (for owner-occupiers, via Land & Property Services) or through Housing Benefit combined with Rate Relief (for tenants, via the Northern Ireland Housing Executive) rather than through local councils.
East Renfrewshire Council
Match-funded grant for small businesses, social enterprises, and self-employed people trading from East Renfrewshire premises, covering new equipment, property expansion or improvement, and costs of exhibiting or developing new products and processes.
Milton Keynes City Council
Milton Keynes City Council's Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029, providing Crisis Payments (covering utilities, household goods, food, clothing, transport costs, emergency property damage, health crises, exceptional housing costs, and furniture for moves into unfurnished housing), a separate Housing Payments strand, resilience services (budgeting advice, debt support, energy-efficiency guidance), and community coordination. The council's full CRF delivery plan was due in place by 1 July 2026.
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council grants of up to £500 to help brand-new community and voluntary organisations (covering sectors such as music, dance, sport, youth, and health) meet the administrative costs of getting properly established — including developing a constitution or articles of memorandum, safeguarding and diversity/inclusion policies, and setting up a business bank account.
Department for Work and Pensions (Social Fund) / Department for Communities (Northern Ireland)
Help from the Social Fund towards the cost of arranging a funeral in England and Wales, for people on a low income who are responsible for a funeral and receive a qualifying benefit. Pays in full any burial fees for a particular plot or cremation fees (including the doctor's certificate), plus up to £1,000 towards other costs such as the funeral director's fees, coffin, or flowers — reduced to £120 towards other costs if the deceased had a pre-paid funeral plan that already covers some items. Administered by the Department for Communities under the same qualifying benefits, rates and structure in Northern Ireland — not a devolved replacement, just a different claim-handling body. Scotland has no Funeral Expenses Payment; Scottish residents instead apply for the structurally different Funeral Support Payment — see the separate entry.
North Northamptonshire Council (delivered by AgilityEco / Warmify)
North Northamptonshire Council's local delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, branded 'Warmify' and delivered by AgilityEco and Aran, offering free energy-efficiency upgrades — solid wall, loft, and cavity wall insulation, air source heat pumps, heating controls, and solar PV — for around 137 privately-owned homes across the district, backed by £1.7m of funding and running from October 2025 to March 2028.
Midlothian Council
Grant of up to £2,000 from Midlothian Council's Economic Development team, delivered with Business Gateway Midlothian support, to help newly trading Midlothian businesses fund market development, ICT, capital expenditure, or new products and services.
Mansfield District Council (delivered by DVCG)
Free energy-efficiency upgrades — insulation, boiler replacement, and draught-proofing — for owner-occupied and privately rented homes in Mansfield with an EPC rating of D-G, assessed via three eligibility pathways: residence in a top-decile deprivation postcode, receipt of means-tested benefits or qualification via ECO4 Flex Route 2, or a gross household income under £36,000 a year. Delivered via DVCG rather than Nottingham Energy Partnership — a different delivery route from every other Nottinghamshire district researched so far.
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council
Capital grants for existing rural micro-businesses in Mid and East Antrim to buy equipment, machinery, computer equipment/software, or build an e-commerce website, funded through DAERA's Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation Programme and delivered locally by the council.
Social Security Scotland
Social Security Scotland's devolved replacement for the Funeral Expenses Payment, structured differently rather than simply mirroring the GB scheme: a fixed £26.80 contribution towards medical costs (such as removing a pacemaker or other medical device before cremation), plus a flat £1,327.75 towards other funeral costs — reduced to £162.05 towards other costs if the deceased (aged 18 or over) had a pre-paid funeral plan that already covers some items. Can be claimed for the funeral of a baby, child, or adult, including a stillborn baby. Cannot be claimed if the household has already received Funeral Expenses Payment or an equivalent payment from England, Wales or Northern Ireland for the same funeral.
Midlothian Council
Midlothian Council grant of up to £4,000 for community enterprises, social enterprises, and third-sector organisations based in Midlothian, part of the council's LACER funding package alongside a separate business association grant.
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council
Grants of up to £2,500 for community and voluntary groups in Mid and East Antrim to deliver projects linked to the borough's 'Together: Building a United Community' strategy, covering themes such as children and young people, shared community spaces, community safety, and cultural expression.
Northumberland County Council
Northumberland County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, succeeding both the Household Support Fund and the council's own Northumberland Emergency Transition Service (NETS), both of which ended 31 March 2026, using a share of a national £27m Crisis and Resilience Fund allocation for the three years to 31 March 2029. Covers food, energy and water bills (including heating oil), essentials such as sanitary products, clothing, and blankets, other bills, transport costs, and housing costs not met by other schemes, alongside preventative services (energy advice, boiler repairs, warm spaces, nutritional cooking training).
Scottish EDGE (funded by the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, South of Scotland Enterprise and private-sector partners)
Scotland's largest business funding competition, run in annual rounds and offering £10,000–£150,000 in grant/loan funding across several award categories: Main EDGE for early-stage companies and social enterprises (up to £100,000, split grant/loan), Young EDGE for founding teams entirely under 30 (up to £15,000, grant-only), Wild Card EDGE for pre-trading individuals, sole traders and partnerships, and a dedicated Social Enterprise EDGE category. Round 27 (2026) awarded £1.5 million across 31 winners.
Welsh Government (Business Wales / SMART Cymru)
A discretionary Welsh Government programme (successor branding to the long-running SMARTCymru scheme) funding research, development and innovation projects for organisations of all sizes across Wales — from micro businesses to large companies, plus social enterprises and knowledge-based institutions — as part of a wider £20 million-plus Welsh Government innovation investment. Support includes expert guidance to develop an Innovation Plan alongside project funding.
Cannock Chase District Council
Cannock Chase District Council's UK Shared Prosperity Fund-backed grant programme for small and medium-sized businesses in the district, offering £1,000 to £10,000 towards eligible project costs on a match-funded basis (60% council contribution, 40% from the business), with funded projects required to be delivered and completed within three months of the Fund Agreement.
Warwick District Council
Warwick District Council fund offering grants of up to £10,000 to community projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt and build resilience to climate change, conserve and enhance biodiversity, reduce waste, or increase recycling and support the circular economy — including research projects that help applicants access larger funding opportunities. Open to registered charities, Community Interest Companies, schools, town and parish councils, and other not-for-profit groups delivering projects across Warwick district.
London Borough of Bromley
Bromley's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund (which closed 31 March 2026) and Discretionary Housing Payments. Provides Crisis Payments for immediate financial emergencies such as being unable to afford food or heating, and Housing Payments for rent shortfalls, arrears, deposits, or advance rent for residents receiving Housing Benefit or the Universal Credit housing element.
Suffolk County Council and East Suffolk Council (Warm Homes Suffolk partnership)
Free home energy-efficiency and low-carbon heating upgrades — including wall and loft insulation, solar panels, air source heat pumps and high heat retention storage heaters — for lower-income and vulnerable households across Suffolk, delivered through Warm Homes Suffolk, a single countywide partnership managed by Suffolk County Council and East Suffolk Council together with Ipswich Borough Council, Mid Suffolk District Council, Babergh District Council and West Suffolk Council.
City of London Corporation (City Bridge Foundation)
One of four funding strands in the City of London Corporation's Central Grants Programme, administered by City Bridge Foundation (the Corporation's charitable funder). Stronger Communities funds charitable and voluntary-sector projects that help more people get involved in their local neighbourhood and build a broader understanding of the diverse needs of communities in the City and on housing estates the Corporation runs elsewhere in London. Two routes exist: a Main Grants scheme (£10,000, or up to £20,000 for exceptional two-year projects) and a lighter-touch Small Grants route for requests of £3,000 or less.
Surrey County Council (Crisis Payments); district/borough councils (Housing Payments)
Surrey County Council's county-wide Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026 and running until 31 March 2029. Surrey has been allocated £7.1m for 2026/27, covering Crisis Payments (emergency help with essential costs such as food and heating, administered by the county council) and Housing Payments (support with housing-related costs, administered locally by each district/borough council), alongside financial wellbeing advice and community coordination.
Department for the Economy (Northern Ireland)
Northern Ireland's equivalent of England's 16-19 Bursary Fund — a weekly payment of £30, paid fortnightly, for 16-19 year-olds from lower-income households staying on at school or moving into further education college, with two additional one-off £100 bonus payments available for meeting attendance/progress targets set by the school or college.
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
Tax-free weekly benefit for people who have reached State Pension age and need help with personal care or supervision because of a physical or mental disability or illness, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
Tax-free weekly payment for people disabled because of an accident at work or a disease caused or made worse by their job, regardless of who was at fault. Scaled by assessed percentage disablement.
Reigate and Banstead Borough Council
Reigate and Banstead Borough Council's Business Support Grant of up to £1,000, available to small businesses wishing to start, develop, or grow within the borough.
Local councils (England, Scotland, Wales)
Reduces a household's Council Tax to the rate of the next band down where the property has been adapted or has extra space to meet the needs of a disabled resident (adult or child), so disabled people don't pay more Council Tax for needing a larger home.
Angus Council (Invest in Angus)
UK Shared Prosperity Fund-backed grant scheme for Angus SMEs and sole traders, covering six themes: start-up, resilience, first employee wage costs, market development, new property fit-out, and growth.
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments from 1 April 2026 with a £3.38m DWP allocation, running to 31 March 2029. Delivered as short-term crisis payments for vulnerable households facing emergencies (aiming to stabilise households and reduce repeat crises), plus a housing payment strand for residents facing a shortfall in housing costs.
Warrington Borough Council
Warrington Borough Council's Community Investment Fund, offering grants of £50 to £5,000 to voluntary, community, and faith sector organisations to support or deliver activities within the borough that benefit residents and align with one of the council's strategic pledges (healthy/happy/independent lives, a thriving economy, safe/strong communities, or a clean/green/vibrant borough).
West Sussex County Council (crisis payments); district/borough councils (housing-related support)
West Sussex County Council's county-wide Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026 and running until 31 March 2029, funded by a Department for Work and Pensions allocation of almost £7.3m for 2026/27. Covers crisis payments for households facing sudden financial emergencies and wider resilience services such as benefits, budgeting, and debt advice, administered via the council's Community Hub; a longer-term dedicated Crisis Payment Service is being commissioned and is expected to be operational from September 2026. Housing-related costs are handled separately by each district/borough council through CRF Housing Payments (formerly Discretionary Housing Payments).
Crawley Borough Council
Crawley Borough Council's rolling small grants scheme for local not-for-profit community groups and voluntary organisations, offering between £50 and £2,500 towards projects, events, or equipment that foster community activity and benefit Crawley residents and visitors, including start-up grants for new community groups.
Burnley Council
Burnley Council grants covering up to 70% of the cost of shopfront improvements or security measures for ground-floor town-centre premises, capped at £3,000 (or £5,000 within a conservation area). Requires businesses to hold at least a two-year lease and to obtain any necessary planning consent before work begins.
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
A contribution-based fortnightly payment for people who are unemployed or working under 16 hours/week and actively looking for work, paid regardless of savings or a partner's income — unlike the now-closed income-based JSA. Can be claimed alongside Universal Credit if you also qualify for that.
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026. The 2026/27 allocation includes £797,642 for crisis payments, resilience services, and community coordination, plus £199,080 for housing payments and a £23,655 top-up specifically to help residents affected by rising oil heating costs.
Huntingdonshire District Council
Huntingdonshire District Council's small grants scheme for community groups and organisations, offering up to £800 for Community Spaces projects, £1,000 for community events, and £2,500 for longer-term projects addressing physical activity, social connection, crisis prevention/support, or carbon reduction. The 2026/27 round opened for applications from 3 July 2026.
Aberdeen City Council
One-off, discretionary funding for Aberdeen community groups and organisations whose need doesn't fit any other council funding stream — not available to individuals or private limited companies. No fixed amount cap is published; awards are assessed case by case by the council's Corporate Accounting Team, who are the first point of contact rather than a standard online application form.
Cardiff Council
Capital grants for established Cardiff-based SMEs to relaunch, develop, and grow, tied to job creation or safeguarding and productivity growth. Relaunched under the new Local Growth Fund rather than closing when the original round ended.
Bolton Council
Bolton's resident-facing crisis support scheme, funded through the council's Crisis and Resilience Fund allocation — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 (Bolton was awarded £6.1m for 2026/27). Provides help with food, gas/electricity top-ups, and white goods/furniture for households facing an emergency, without requiring the applicant to already be receiving benefits.
Wyre Forest District Council
Wyre Forest District Council's own Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG) scheme, funded by around £1.275m secured from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, offering fully funded home energy-efficiency upgrades — insulation and renewable/low-carbon heating such as air source heat pumps — to eligible low-income owner-occupiers and private tenants in the district.
North East Derbyshire District Council
North East Derbyshire District Council's Healthy North East Derbyshire Partnership Grants fund local projects supporting children and young people's mental health and emotional wellbeing, with £25,000 allocated for the 2026/27 financial year. Individual grants are capped at £3,000 per application, and funded activity must be completed by 28 February 2027.
Wigan Council
Small grants for grassroots community organisations in Wigan borough working to reduce loneliness, build community cohesion, and bring communities together, run through a dedicated online application portal.
Clackmannanshire Council
UK Shared Prosperity Fund-backed capital grant for Clackmannanshire businesses investing in IT/digital infrastructure or premises improvements, with preference given to projects that create jobs or work-experience opportunities.
Essex County Council (Crisis Payments administered by Southend-on-Sea City Council; Housing Payments by district/borough councils)
Essex County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended 31 March 2026. Crisis Payments (for households facing unexpected expenses or a sudden drop in earnings) are centrally administered by Southend-on-Sea City Council as an administrative agent on behalf of all Essex County Council-area residents, while Housing Payments (for a temporary shortfall between housing benefit/Universal Credit and actual housing costs) are handled individually by each district/borough council. All recipients are also offered financial-resilience guidance and support.
Thurrock Council
Thurrock Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, which replaced the Essential Living Fund and the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026, running to 31 March 2029. Delivered through a Housing Payment strand (for residents receiving Housing Benefit or the Universal Credit housing element facing a rent shortfall) and a Crisis Payment strand for residents who cannot access a Housing Payment, alongside wraparound Resilience Services aimed at reducing material deprivation and increasing access to advice.
Elmbridge Borough Council
Elmbridge Borough Council's Business Boost grant, part of a wider suite (alongside Start-up Boost, Digital High Street Boost, Green Business Boost, and Skills Boost) that has collectively invested over £1 million in local businesses. Supports independent traders and local businesses with shopfront improvements, bringing empty units back into use, growing online, and adapting to changing customer needs.
Knowsley Council
Knowsley's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, with £11.276m secured over three years (approximately £3.7m/year) replacing the Household Support Fund. Structured in four strands: Crisis Payment, Housing Payment, Resilience Services (debt advice, food support, fuel assistance, employment support), and Community Coordination.
Barnsley Council
Barnsley's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, with £4.7m allocated for 2026/27, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments from 1 April 2026. Crisis Payments cover food and basic living essentials, essential household appliances, utilities, priority/emergency debt, and essential transport, alongside interest-free credit union loans, housing payments, heating oil support, and resettlement grants for new tenants.
Slough Borough Council
Free home energy-efficiency and clean heating upgrades for low-income, fuel-poor households in Slough with EPC ratings of D to G, funded by a £1.5m Warm Homes: Local Grant award from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, running to 31 March 2028.
Fife Council
Interest-free, fully repayable grant from Fife Council for Fife-based SMEs investing in plant and machinery, property improvements, product or process development, training, or market development, where the project will grow turnover, employment, or support net-zero goals.
Gateshead Council
Gateshead's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 with £3.6m available each year, replacing the Household Support Fund. Covers crisis payments, housing payments, resilience services, and community coordination. Individual applicants must agree to a referral to a 'resilience partner' — the Advice and Support team for council tenants, Age UK for people over 50, or Citizens Advice Gateshead for everyone else.
North Tyneside Council
North Tyneside's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026 and running to 31 March 2029. Provides crisis payments for households facing a financial shock or at risk of entering crisis, with individual circumstances (savings, income, identity/address) assessed for each application.
Ashfield District Council
Ashfield District Council grant offsetting the first three months' rent, worth £250 to £960 depending on unit size, for start-up, established, sole-trader, micro, and SME businesses taking on one of 14 available council-owned workspace units (11 to 42 square metres). Aimed at businesses expanding into larger premises or new to the district.
City of Wolverhampton Council
Wolverhampton's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, part of a £2.6m cost-of-living support plan, replacing the Household Support Fund. Provides published crisis payment bands for food (£40 individual/£60 couple, plus £30 per child) and utilities (£40 individual/£60 couple, plus £20 per child) alongside other essential-item support, plus a complementary Boost Financial Wellbeing Service for longer-term money advice.
Happy Energy Solutions Ltd (in partnership with the five member councils)
A five-authority home energy-efficiency partnership covering Bracknell Forest, Runnymede, Spelthorne, West Berkshire, and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, delivered by Happy Energy Solutions Ltd. Funded through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and the Affordable Warmth Solutions-administered Warm Homes Fund/Fuel Poor Network Extension Scheme — distinct from the DESNZ Warm Homes: Local Grant scheme tracked elsewhere in this directory for some of the same councils. Offers first-time mains gas/LPG central heating (typically free), air/ground source heat pump grants, boiler upgrade grants (up to 50% of cost), and insulation grants (loft, cavity wall, underfloor, solid wall).
Ealing Council
Ealing's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended 31 March 2026. Focused specifically on crisis intervention and prevention rather than the broader cost-of-living support the Household Support Fund offered — Crisis Payments, Housing Payments, and wider resilience services are the three main strands, intended to help residents become more resilient as well as respond to immediate financial shocks.
Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council (Labour Market Partnership)
Grants for micro, small, and medium-sized businesses in Antrim and Newtownabbey to upskill existing staff into higher-paid roles or open up new entry-level opportunities for local residents, run by the council's Labour Market Partnership.
Cheltenham Borough Council
Small rolling grants of up to £300 from Cheltenham Borough Council to help parish councils, voluntary/community organisations, neighbourhood groups, and schools run small-scale projects, events, and activities that build and support community spirit and neighbourhood wellbeing. Applications are welcomed at any time and assessed as they arrive, though the annual pot closes once fully allocated.
London Borough of Hillingdon
Hillingdon Council's rolling capital grants programme for one-off improvements to council-owned community assets — energy efficiency measures, allotments, town centre improvements, playground refurbishments, and outdoor gyms. Selected by the Cabinet Member for Community and Environment, with the council either managing the whole project itself or providing grant funding directly, depending on scale.
East Cambridgeshire District Council
East Cambridgeshire District Council's small grants scheme for local community groups, funding new or existing projects that improve residents' quality of life. Runs as an annual application window rather than a rolling scheme. Separately, the council's own business-grants page confirms it currently has no live business grant schemes — its former Rural England Prosperity Fund capital grant and UK Shared Prosperity Fund Business Grant Fund wound down after UKSPF ended nationally on 31 March 2026.
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council scheme giving each borough councillor an annual budget of £2,000 to award to community and voluntary organisations delivering one-off items or activities that benefit their ward. Now in its sixth year, having funded over 350 initiatives; councillors can award £250-£2,000 individually, or pool funding with one or two others for grants up to £3,000.
Leicestershire County Council
Leicestershire County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended nationally 31 March 2026, running from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029. Combines short-term crisis support for urgent, unexpected financial hardship with a housing-costs element (replacing Discretionary Housing Payments) and longer-term resilience services, administered by the county council on behalf of district councils across Leicestershire including Blaby, Charnwood, Harborough, Hinckley and Bosworth, Melton, and North West Leicestershire.
Southwark Council
Southwark's current live discretionary hardship scheme, funded through the Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — for residents facing a crisis, emergency, or disaster who cannot afford essentials, still operating under its pre-Crisis-and-Resilience-Fund branding — the Southwark Emergency Support Scheme (SESS) — while the council finalises a fuller CRF offer (referenced in committee papers as the 'Better Living Fund') expected in autumn 2026. Support is normally provided as goods or services (e.g. a food gift card or help with energy bills) rather than cash.
Gosport Borough Council
Gosport Borough Council grants of up to £5,000 for local community groups and voluntary organisations to improve community places, spaces and activities in the borough. Open year-round for Expressions of Interest and full applications, assessed quarterly by the council's Grants Sub-Board.
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council
Borough-wide grants helping local businesses and property owners in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon repaint shopfronts and signage or repair external stonework and brickwork, funded from a £70,000 scheme pot.
Mole Valley District Council
Mole Valley District Council is committing £8,000 to match fund eligible donations that small and medium businesses make to local good causes through the Mole Valley Community Fund. For every £1 a business commits, the council matches it, up to a maximum of £2,500 per donation, available until 31 March 2027.
Blaby District Council (delivered jointly across five Leicestershire districts)
Grants of up to £5,000 per household to help residents remain independent and safe at home, covering works such as central heating installation or replacement, energy-efficient insulation, external security lighting, additional interior lighting, window replacement, and electrical or gas pipe repairs. Delivered jointly across five Leicestershire districts including Blaby, Harborough, Melton, and North West Leicestershire, subject to a means test and a home visit.
West Lothian Council
Grant from West Lothian Council, delivered via Invest in West Lothian/Business Gateway, for businesses in their first 18 months of trading with strong early growth signals, funding new product launches, trade events, and capacity building.
Clackmannanshire Council
Small grant of up to £500 to help fund one community celebration per year in a Clackmannanshire village or community — for example a gala day, exhibition, or local event enjoyed by a wide range of people. Open to a planning group representative of the area, provided there's evidence of community involvement and a clearly costed application. Distinct from the Scottish Welfare Fund, which covers individual hardship rather than community events.
West Dunbartonshire Council
Flat-rate £500 grant from West Dunbartonshire Council towards the costs of starting a new business, for individuals aged 18 or over putting together a business plan and taking their first steps into trading. Applicants need a business bank account and proof of identification, and can get planning advice from the council's Business Support team ahead of applying.
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council)
Discretionary capital grant fully funded by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, encouraging new business start-up and growth across the Outer Hebrides by helping fund machinery, tools, equipment, fixtures/fittings, and building or groundworks.
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council)
Per-ward community infrastructure fund from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, allocating over £1 million annually across the Outer Hebrides' wards so local communities can shape priorities and develop projects aligned with the council's Economic Strategy.
Buckinghamshire Council (delivered by Retail Revival Ltd)
Free workshops, 1-2-1 business advisor support, and a business improvement grant of up to £1,000 for independent high street businesses in Buckinghamshire, delivered by Retail Revival Ltd (commissioned by the council; £167k awarded for the delivery contract) and originally funded via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). Businesses must complete 6 hours of support before becoming eligible for the grant.
Caerphilly County Borough Council
Capital grant from Caerphilly County Borough Council for new and existing enterprises in the borough's town centres, funding property refurbishment — shopfronts, signage, windows/doors, lighting, roofs, rendering, structural works, and accessibility improvements.
Ceredigion County Council
UK Shared Prosperity Fund-backed capital grant delivered by Ceredigion County Council to help local businesses develop economically, covering capital projects and specialist revenue costs such as equipment training.
Ceredigion County Council
Annual council grant for community groups, churches, chapels, and bona fide voluntary sports and play associations in Ceredigion, supporting land, buildings, and equipment purchases or facility upgrades via a Capital Grant strand, plus a year-round Policy Grant strand for events like eisteddfodau and local shows.
Conwy County Borough Council
Welsh Government Transforming Towns-funded grant administered by Conwy County Borough Council, supporting cosmetic repairs and reinstatement of lost architectural or heritage features on commercial building frontages in the county's town centres.
North Somerset Council
North Somerset Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, succeeding the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026 for a three-year programme running to 31 March 2029. Delivered across four components: Crisis Payments (application-based, with support available to complete the form), Housing Payments (replacing Discretionary Housing Payments), Resilience Services (building longer-term financial stability), and Community Coordination (strengthening community support networks) — some funding also flows to local services such as fuel banks, a handyman service, and the Salvation Army's fuel top-up scheme.
Burnley Council
Burnley Council grants of up to 20% of eligible capital investment costs, capped at £20,000, for Burnley-based or relocating businesses undertaking a capital project of at least £25,000. Requires an initial discussion with the council's Economy & Growth Team before a formal application, including three quotations, business accounts, a project plan, and a cash-flow forecast.
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Fund from 1 April 2026. Combines automatic set-rate Cost of Living payments to Council Tax Support recipients (£100 for households with children, £50 for those without), Housing Payments (replacing Discretionary Housing Payments for rent shortfalls between Housing Benefit and actual rent), and discretionary assistance covering money/debt advice, benefit guidance, employment and education support, and help with essential items.
Dartford Borough Council and Dover District Council (delivered in partnership with Aran Insulation)
A joint delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant by Dartford Borough Council and Dover District Council, jointly awarded £1,868,398 of government funding and delivered via Aran Insulation. Offers fully-funded energy-efficiency upgrades and clean heating systems — insulation, air source heat pumps, solar panels, double glazing, and high heat retention storage heaters — to eligible owner-occupied and privately-rented households, open since 1 April 2025 for three years.
Swale Borough Council
Swale Borough Council grants of up to £5,000 towards repairing or replacing a heating system, or installing insulation, for residents aged over 65 (or under 65 in certain circumstances) or with a long-term health problem or disability that makes them vulnerable to the cold.
Greater London Authority / London Councils (Warmer Homes London)
Free energy-efficiency and low-carbon heating upgrades — insulation, solar panels, air source heat pumps — for lower-income privately-owned homes, delivered across London by 'Warmer Homes London', a 31-strong consortium of the Greater London Authority, London Councils, 30 London boroughs, and the City of London Corporation, run day-to-day by contractor Sureserve. Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, and Bexley are all confirmed members of the consortium — the single largest local-authority collaboration on Warm Homes: Local Grant delivery found anywhere in this directory's council-trawl research to date.
Shropshire Council
Shropshire Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended nationally 31 March 2026, with a £3.67m annual DWP allocation running 2026-2029 plus a one-off top-up of around £758,558 for households reliant on heating oil, reflecting Shropshire's rural communities. Supports low-income households (not limited to benefit recipients) with food, housing costs, energy bills, clothing/school uniforms, essential household items, transport, digital essentials, and hygiene products.
Telford & Wrekin Council
A set of small community grant schemes run by Telford & Wrekin Council for not-for-profit and voluntary organisations, including the Capacity Building Fund 'Get Started' (up to £300 for new community/voluntary groups), the Veolia EnviroGrant Scheme (up to £1,000 for environmental or quality-of-life projects, funded by the borough's waste contractor), the idverde Community Investment Fund (up to £1,000 crowdfunding match, £40,000 available annually, for green space and public realm projects), and the Telford and Shropshire Support Fund (up to £1,000 for charity/not-for-profit core costs, considered bi-monthly). A separate Councillors' Pride Fund (£5,000 per councillor) supports community, environmental, and carbon-neutrality projects nominated by individual ward councillors.
Torfaen County Borough Council
Revenue grant from Torfaen County Borough Council's Food Resilience Programme helping established local food businesses add value to their produce, diversify operations, and build sustainable food networks and supply chains.
Somerset Council (delivered by the Centre for Sustainable Energy)
Free home energy-efficiency retrofits — floor/wall/roof insulation, windows and doors, ventilation, solar panels and batteries, heat pumps, and electric storage heaters — for lower-income households across Somerset, funded by a £6,066,116 Warm Homes: Local Grant award (plus a further £1m secured funding boost) running 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2028. Delivered by the Centre for Sustainable Energy on the council's behalf; this is a standalone Somerset Council allocation, distinct from the separate Bright Green Homes consortium covering Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, and North Somerset.
Wrexham County Borough Council
UK Shared Prosperity Fund grant from Wrexham County Borough Council supporting voluntary and community groups, charities, and statutory bodies with projects that strengthen communities and build resilient neighbourhoods.
Local councils (Scotland), under a national scheme set by the Scottish Government
A means-tested reduction — up to 100% — in a household's Council Tax bill for people on a low income, run under a single national framework set by the Scottish Government (unlike England, where each council sets its own scheme). Administered locally by each council but with consistent national eligibility rules. Recipients typically save around £750 a year on average, and can also get up to 35% off water and waste charges alongside the Council Tax reduction itself.
Coventry City Council
Coventry's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments from 1 April 2026. Provides Crisis Payments (food, energy/water, household items, clothing/bedding, travel costs) and Housing Payments (rent, storage/removal costs).
Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council
Capital and revenue grants for small local micro-businesses across Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon to invest in equipment, marketing, or other eligible costs, run annually through the council's own Funding Hub portal.
Derry City and Strabane District Council (Local Economic Partnership)
Capital grants for micro and small businesses in Derry City and Strabane to achieve sustainable, measurable growth through capital investment and sustainability projects, funded by the Department for the Economy and delivered by the council's Local Economic Partnership.
Derry City and Strabane District Council
Competitive grants for organisations that are core good relations practitioners in Derry City and Strabane, funding strategic projects that make a measurable contribution to good relations across the council area.
Croydon Council
Croydon's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, funded by the UK Government from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029, replacing the Household Support Fund. A Crisis Payment covers urgent one-off essential costs (food, energy top-ups, essential goods, debt with utility providers), and a Housing Payment helps with rent arrears, homelessness prevention, or moving costs.
Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council
Capital grants for existing rural micro-businesses in Lisburn and Castlereagh to buy equipment, machinery, digital tools, or e-commerce development, funded through DAERA's Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation Programme and delivered jointly by the council and Belfast City Council.
Slough Borough Council
Slough Borough Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund with a provisional £2.735m/year DWP allocation running to March 2029. Provides targeted, needs-based hardship support — including weekly £10-per-child food vouchers for Free School Meal-eligible households during school holidays (to 31 August 2026), direct support for care leavers and other vulnerable families, and a wider discretionary application route for households in hardship, particularly those who have missed out on other government support.
West Berkshire Council (in partnership with Greenham Trust)
A £110,000 fund launched jointly by West Berkshire Council and the Greenham Trust in February 2026 to help local community and voluntary organisations support residents' mental health, wellbeing, and access to physical activity. Grants can fund expanding existing services, launching new support programmes, purchasing equipment, or other initiatives with tangible resident benefit, with priority given to the areas of West Berkshire needing the most support.
Broadland District Council (lead authority for the Norfolk Warm Homes consortium)
Free energy-efficiency and heating upgrades — insulation, air source heat pumps, solar panels, and related measures — for privately-owned or privately-rented homes with an EPC rating of D, E, F, or G (or no valid EPC), delivered by the 'Norfolk Warm Homes' partnership led by Broadland District Council on behalf of Breckland, South Norfolk, King's Lynn and West Norfolk, and North Norfolk. Funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, building on a home energy-efficiency programme the partner councils have run since 2018.
Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk
Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk capital grant scheme for micro, small, and medium-sized rural businesses, funded via the Rural England Prosperity Fund (REPF) under the council's wider West Norfolk Shared Prosperity Funding programme. Grants of £10,000 to £100,000 (up to 50% of eligible capital costs) support new technologies, market engagement, productivity improvements, or job creation, in REPF-eligible rural areas excluding King's Lynn town and other built-up industrial zones.
Student Finance Wales, within a national scheme set by the Welsh Government
Wales's equivalent of England's 16-19 Bursary Fund — a weekly payment of £40 for 16-18 year-olds from lower-income households in further education, higher than both Scotland's and Northern Ireland's EMA rate. Intended to help with the everyday costs of staying in education, such as travel, meals, and course materials.
North Norfolk District Council
North Norfolk District Council capital and revenue grant supporting local businesses to invest in digitalisation, adaptation and diversification, green/energy-efficiency measures, new equipment and machinery, or physical premises adaptation. Grants of £2,500 to £25,000 cover up to 75% of costs (25% match funding required), with no fixed application deadline while funds remain available.
Wokingham Borough Council
Wokingham Borough Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, a three-year Government programme launching 1 April 2026 and replacing the Household Support Fund. Supports residents facing a sudden financial shock or unexpected essential cost with food, energy/utility bills (including heating oil), household essentials, essential transport costs, homelessness prevention, and financial/debt advice — though the council notes overall CRF funding is lower than previous Household Support Fund allocations, requiring careful prioritisation.
West Northamptonshire Council (in partnership with Brackley Town Council)
West Northamptonshire Council grants, delivered in partnership with Brackley Town Council, of up to £10,000 (excluding VAT) for independent retail businesses with a shopfront in Brackley's designated town centre — 80% council funding for shop frontage/exterior improvements (20% applicant match) or 50% council funding for interior improvements and new services (50% applicant match).
Wiltshire Council (delivered with EDF Energy and CHIC)
Free or subsidised home energy-efficiency improvements for lower-income households in Wiltshire, funded by around £13m from the national Warm Homes: Local Grant. Wiltshire Council works with EDF Energy (installation management) and CHIC's Healthy Homes Framework, funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Estimated around 13,500 eligible households across the county, targeted particularly at areas of high economic deprivation.
South Norfolk Council
South Norfolk Council business grant for very early-stage businesses, covering 50% of eligible costs up to a maximum grant of £1,000 (minimum eligible spend £2,000). Continues, from the council's own budget for 2026/27, a support programme previously funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund from 2023 to March 2026. Covers costs such as equipment, rent, consultancy, training, software, website design, signage, professional memberships, and commercial fit-out.
Wiltshire Council
Wiltshire Council's Community Grants scheme, offering capital funding of up to £5,000 (more in exceptional cases) via each of the county's local Area Boards, to help not-for-profit organisations and community groups provide facilities and equipment for locally important projects.
Newark and Sherwood District Council (delivered by Nottingham Energy Partnership)
Free energy-efficiency upgrades — insulation, solar panels, window replacements, and low-carbon heating — for lower-income households in the private sector (owner-occupied and privately rented) in Newark and Sherwood, funded by a £1,056,000 Warm Homes: Local Grant allocation the council secured for 2026/27 and 2027/28, delivered as its own separately-procured allocation rather than through Nottinghamshire County Council's Gedling/Broxtowe/Ashfield scheme. The council separately secured £2,428,408 under the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund for its own council housing stock.
East Dunbartonshire Council
Council grant scheme for not-for-profit community groups and organisations in East Dunbartonshire, funding capital equipment, revenue costs, consumables, start-up expenses, special projects, and salaries for projects that benefit local residents.
Mansfield District Council
Mansfield District Council's business grant programme, now covering two schemes: a Start-Up Grant for pre-start and new businesses trading less than 12 months, and a Growth Grant for established businesses trading more than 12 months seeking to improve productivity, innovation, or sustainable growth. Follows on from a UKSPF-funded programme that awarded 25 local businesses over the prior year; specific grant amounts and match-funding rates are no longer published on the council's page and are instead confirmed case-by-case via a dedicated Business Adviser.
West Oxfordshire District Council
West Oxfordshire District Council's new three-year funding programme (£555,000 total, April 2027 to March 2030) supporting voluntary and community organisations, charities, and Community Interest Companies delivering projects across three priority areas: Climate Resilience, Nature Recovery, and Community Wellbeing. Continues the council's long-term investment in the local voluntary and community sector following earlier grant programmes.
Orkney Islands Council
Community funding programme for Orkney, split between capital and revenue funding at up to 50% intervention rate, supporting ready-to-deliver community-led projects across the islands — including the smaller, more remote isles rather than only the Orkney Mainland.
Local councils (school pupils) and colleges (Scotland), within a national scheme set by the Scottish Government
Scotland's equivalent of England's 16-19 Bursary Fund — a weekly payment of £30 for 16-19 year-olds from lower-income households who stay on at school or move into further education college, intended to help with the everyday costs of studying (travel, meals, materials). Paid fortnightly and subject to maintaining attendance and agreeing a learning plan with your school or college.
Exeter City Council
A discretionary top-up available from Exeter City Council for residents whose disabled facilities adaptation works cost more than the mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant cap of £30,000. Sits alongside the standard national Disabled Facilities Grant, covering the same range of adaptations (level-access showers, stairlifts, ramps, widened doorways, and similar), subject to available council funds.
York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority
Innovation grants of up to £60,000 for businesses of any size or stage in York and North Yorkshire pursuing a new product, service, process, or technology, backed by tailored pre-application support (an Innovation Health Check, workshops, and specialist coaching) before a 'Dragons' Den'-style pitch panel decides funding. Part of the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority's £2.5 million Business Innovation Fund programme (launched January 2026, funded by the Department for Business and Trade), which also includes the separate Get Exporting grant strand (£3,000-£10,000, though its most recent funding round has closed) and the advisory-only Get Funded strand.
Staffordshire County Council (Housing Payments administered by district/borough councils)
Staffordshire County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, the successor to the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments, running under the national 2026-29 three-year DWP settlement (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029; £8m confirmed for the three-year period, with £8.46m allocated for 2026/27 alone). Combines short-term Crisis Payments — covering energy, heating oil, food, household essentials, white goods, emergency childcare/transport and uniform/clothing costs, accessed via professional/approved referral or a one-to-one financial wellbeing coaching service rather than direct resident application — with Resilience Services (money management and stability support) and community-sector coordination, plus a Housing Payment strand (the renamed successor to Discretionary Housing Payments) administered locally by each of Staffordshire's eight district and borough councils.
Mid Devon District Council
Mid Devon District Council's Strategic Sustainability Grants scheme supports local community organisations acting on sustainability, climate change and nature recovery, with £80,000 allocated across the 2026/27 and 2027/28 financial years. Funding typically covers 25%-75% of costs depending on the applicant's stage and needs, with match funding or in-kind support expected alongside council investment.
West of England Combined Authority
Capital grants of £1,000-£15,000, covering up to 50% of eligible costs, for care homes across Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, and South Gloucestershire to buy and install energy-efficiency and low-carbon equipment — insulation, glazing, heat pumps, air conditioning, LED lighting, solar PV, and efficient catering equipment among the eligible categories. Part of the Mayor's Green Energy Fund, with a £250,000 total pot for this round; distinct from the household-facing Warm Homes: Local Grant and Bright Green Homes schemes already tracked elsewhere in this directory, since this targets care home businesses/premises rather than individual residents.
Arun District Council
Arun District Council match-funded grant supporting existing businesses across the district to invest in equipment and improvements that strengthen long-term stability, covering items such as tools, machinery, IT hardware, and environmentally beneficial equipment. Businesses may apply for up to £2,500, with the council covering up to half of eligible project costs; marketing, operating costs, insurance, and like-for-like replacements without a growth justification are not eligible.
Worcestershire County Council
Match-funded grants of £2,500-£10,000 (the business providing a minimum 60% contribution) for established Worcestershire SMEs pursuing a growth project — covering machinery, equipment, consultancy, marketing, website development, relocation, or market research. Delivered by Worcestershire County Council in partnership with district councils; part of a wider Worcestershire Growth Hub grant family alongside the Enterprising Worcestershire Grant (£1,000-£5,000, for start-ups and businesses trading 3 years or less), the Innovation Worcestershire Grant (£2,500-£15,000, for new-to-market product/technology development), and the Energy Efficiency Worcestershire Grant (£1,000-£10,000, requires a prior WCC energy efficiency report).
Suffolk County Council
Suffolk County Council's Crisis and Resilience Fund, the successor to the Household Support Fund, accessed through the council's pre-existing Local Welfare Assistance Scheme. Provides BACS payments or Post Office vouchers for essential needs — food, energy and water bills, white goods, hygiene products and transport costs — plus an additional oil heating payment of up to £350 for households with qualifying heating needs.
East Sussex County Council (Housing Payments delivered by district/borough councils)
East Sussex County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended 31 March 2026, backed by almost £7.3m for 2026/27. A new Crisis Support strand — designed to shift the emphasis from short-term crisis mitigation towards prevention and financial resilience — launches from September 2026. A Housing Payment strand, replacing Discretionary Housing Payments, is already live and administered individually by each district/borough council. Plus wraparound money/benefits advice, holiday activity and food (HAF) programmes, heating oil assistance, and community food support.
Chichester District Council
Chichester District Council fund offering businesses with 2–40 employees and commercial premises in the district up to £7,500 towards sustainability improvements such as energy efficiency measures, low-carbon technologies, and waste reduction initiatives, as part of a £105,000 sustainability grants pot launched in June 2026.
Ipswich Borough Council
Ipswich Borough Council's Community Chest fund, providing flexible financial support to voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise organisations, with grants of up to £5,000 alongside smaller ward-level councillor funding and grassroots micro-grants, from a £75,000 total pot supporting projects that help deliver the council's Proud of Ipswich Corporate Strategy.
East Sussex County Council, Eastbourne Borough Council, Hastings Borough Council, Lewes District Council, Rother District Council and Wealden District Council (led by Lewes District Council)
Free home energy-efficiency upgrades — insulation, low-carbon heating, and smart controls — for lower-income households across East Sussex, backed by a £3.9m joint bid from East Sussex County Council and all five district/borough councils to the government's Warm Homes: Local Grant scheme. Lewes District Council led the successful bid and facilitates/delivers the three-year programme. Delivery is via vetted local contractors: Osborne Energy in Wealden, and RetrofitWorks in Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes and Rother.
East Renfrewshire Council
Small grant of up to £500 for East Renfrewshire micro-businesses and self-employed people to buy equipment, tooling, or computer hardware, sitting alongside the council's larger Business Growth Grant for bigger investment needs. Part of the same East Renfrewshire Business Support package as a separate e-commerce development grant, also capped at £500.
Warwickshire County Council (Crisis Payments); district/borough councils (housing-related support)
Warwickshire County Council's county-wide Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026 and running until 31 March 2029, funded by a Department for Work and Pensions allocation of more than £5.6m. Covers Crisis Payments — emergency help with essentials such as food, energy, and basic household costs, administered by the county council via the Warwickshire Local Welfare Scheme — alongside financial resilience services such as debt and income-maximisation advice. Housing-related costs are handled separately by each district/borough council.
North Warwickshire Borough Council
A £2 million fund launched by North Warwickshire Borough Council on 1 April 2026, building on the council's prior UK Shared Prosperity Fund and Rural England Prosperity Fund programmes, which supported over 100 local projects between 2022 and 2025. Open to town and parish councils, voluntary sector organisations, and private-sector businesses for projects that benefit residents and strengthen communities across the borough, with funded activity able to run for up to two years.
Natural England / Rural Payments Agency
The higher-value, more specialist tier of England's Countryside Stewardship agri-environment scheme, funding bespoke, longer-term management of the most sensitive habitats and features — SSSIs, priority woodland and grassland, and historic/archaeological features — plus a wide range of capital items (from tree guards at £121.62 each to stone wall repair at £16.17/metre). Countryside Stewardship is now Higher Tier only: its former Mid Tier options were largely absorbed into SFI26 from 2024, and existing Mid Tier agreements due to end in December 2025 received a one-year extension to the end of 2026 rather than a fresh application route. CSHT reopened in September 2025, but applicants must first be invited by Natural England for pre-application advice before they can start an application — priority for that invitation currently goes to farmers whose existing CSHT or Higher Level Stewardship agreements are expiring in 2026 or early 2027.
Argyll and Bute Council (Business Gateway)
Grant covering 50% of eligible costs for established Argyll and Bute businesses investing in productivity, competitiveness, growth, sustainability, or innovation — e.g. marketing, digital/website development, professional services, product development, training, and trade fairs.
Tees Valley Combined Authority (funded by DBT and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund)
Grants of £3,000-£10,000 (covering up to 75% of eligible costs, with 25% match funding required) for Tees Valley businesses starting or expanding export activity — covering trade event attendance and trade stand equipment, adapting websites and marketing materials for overseas markets, export-related consultancy or legal advice, and market research. Delivered by the Tees Valley Combined Authority on behalf of the Tees Valley Mayor, funded through a £200,000 pot jointly backed by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. As of August 2026 this is on its final call for the current round, with applications closing 31 August 2026 and funded activity required to complete by mid-September 2026 as the fund is close to fully allocated.
Sheffield City Council (Business Sheffield)
Match-funded grants for South Yorkshire SMEs to improve productivity or adopt digital tools and systems, delivered by Business Sheffield. Over 350 businesses supported since 2023 (confirmed in an August 2026 re-check, up from the ~300 previously recorded here).
Ofgem (on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Covers £7,500 of the cost of swapping a fossil fuel boiler for a low-carbon alternative — an air source heat pump, ground source heat pump, or, in limited cases, a biomass boiler — in England and Wales. Available to domestic properties and some small non-domestic ones with an existing fossil fuel heating system; your installer applies for the grant on your behalf as part of the quote.
Department for Work and Pensions
Pays £25 automatically for every 7-day spell of very cold weather recorded in your area, for people in England and Wales already receiving certain means-tested benefits. No application is needed — it's triggered and paid automatically once a qualifying cold spell is confirmed. Scotland replaced this with a fixed annual Winter Heating Payment instead (see the separate entry).
Horsham District Council
Horsham District Council's rolling Community Grant for local voluntary, community, and not-for-profit organisations, offering smaller awards of up to £5,000 (typically around £3,000) or larger awards of up to £15,000 (typically around £8,000) towards projects that improve quality of life for district residents. Applications are assessed in four fixed rounds a year rather than on a single annual deadline.
Chelmsford City Council
Chelmsford City Council capital grants for community infrastructure projects — buildings, paths, green/social infrastructure, and sustainable energy assets — located within the city's nine un-parished wards (Goat Hall, Marconi, Moulsham and Central, Moulsham Lodge, Patching Hall, St Andrews, The Lawns, Trinity, and Waterhouse Farm). Funded from Community Infrastructure Levy receipts collected on new development in those wards. Open year-round on a rolling basis, with applications considered by Cabinet twice yearly.
Innovate UK (UKRI)
Corrected August 2026: this is not purely in-kind support — current Innovate UK Business Connect guidance describes total project costs of up to £100,000 over a maximum 6-month project, funded via Minimal Financial Assistance or a match-funded grant (combining company and research-partner costs), following a two-stage Expression of Interest → brokerage → Stage 2 proposal process. Gives businesses access to technical expertise and analytical facilities at UK public research institutions to help solve a specific innovation or R&D challenge — useful if your project needs specialist testing, characterisation, or analytical capability that would otherwise be too expensive to access alone.
Shetland Islands Council
Shetland Islands Council grant stimulating local economic activity by helping individuals, businesses, and organisations (including sole traders, partnerships, limited companies, cooperatives, and community enterprises) turn development project ideas into commercial reality.
Mid Sussex District Council
Mid Sussex District Council's Community Grant Scheme, offering up to £5,000 per application to local community groups whose projects directly benefit Mid Sussex residents and address at least one council priority area — community safety, health and wellbeing, community development, or resilient communities. Since 2015 the council has awarded almost £900,000 to community projects across the district through this scheme.
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
Contribution-based benefit for people whose illness or disability limits their capability for work, paid regardless of savings or a partner's income (unlike the now-closed income-related ESA). Can be claimed alongside Universal Credit.
Forest of Dean District Council
Forest of Dean District Council's annual Community Grants Fund, with £52,500 available for 2026/27, supporting not-for-profit voluntary and community groups with projects that strengthen local connections, build capacity, and help communities become more inclusive, resilient and connected. Constituted groups can apply for one-off grants of up to £3,000; non-constituted groups (informal community groups without a formal governing structure) can apply for up to £500.
Welsh Government
Wales' national statutory crisis and hardship scheme, equivalent to England's Crisis and Resilience Fund and Scotland's Scottish Welfare Fund. Emergency Assistance Payments cover food, gas, electricity, clothing, and travel in extreme hardship; Individual Assistance Payments provide white goods or furniture for people resettling.
Sunderland City Council
Free energy-efficiency and low-carbon heating improvements — insulation, solar panels, battery storage, heat pumps — for lower-income Sunderland homeowners and private renters, delivered by appointed partner 0800Repair as the local arm of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant. Does not fund replacement of broken or inefficient gas boilers, which sit outside the scheme's national eligibility rules.
Scottish Government (Rural Payments and Services)
Supports capital investment by Scottish food and drink businesses that process agricultural produce into food and drink products, funding projects that improve processing capability, capacity, productivity or efficiency. Grants of up to £400,000 are available, covering up to 40% of eligible project costs.
Wirral Council
Wirral's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, with £5.8m allocated for 2026/27, replacing the Household Support Fund. Four elements: Crisis Payment (food, utilities, clothing/hygiene, furniture, travel/communication costs), Housing Payment (rent/Universal Credit housing-cost shortfalls), Resilience Services, and Community Co-ordination. A community-facing 'Resilience Grants' strand is also planned (see separate entry) but not yet open.
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
Rotherham's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, with £5.2m allocated for 2026/27 (around £300,000 more than the combined Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payment allocation for 2025/26). Provides crisis payments for emergencies such as accidents, health crises, or appliance breakdowns; an automatic one-off £95 Family Support payment for eligible families with children; Council Tax Support top-ups; housing payments; and an expanded Open Arms Rotherham cost-of-living advice project.
Trafford Council
Capital grant for new and existing businesses refurbishing retail premises in Trafford's town centres — Altrincham, Sale, Stretford, and Urmston — to reduce vacancy and support high-street regeneration. Funded by the UK Government (the council's own page no longer specifically names UKSPF, consistent with UKSPF's national closure on 31 March 2026).
Welsh Government (Big Ideas Wales / Business Wales)
A Welsh Government grant of up to £2,000 to help young people living in or returning to Wales become self-employed, delivered alongside a wider Big Ideas Wales support package of one-to-one advice and webinars on business planning. Aimed at those not currently in full-time work or education who can show a realistic business idea capable of becoming their main source of income.
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
Capital grants to improve the exterior (and in some cases interior) of business premises across Rotherham's priority high-street locations, with a specific strand supporting the reoccupation of empty units. Existing businesses can claim funding towards works like re-painting, new windows/doors/shop frontage, improved access, and signage; bringing an empty unit back into use can secure a larger grant. Funded jointly through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and the council's Local Growth Fund allocation, with a further £666,655 committed for 2026/27 after high demand in the scheme's first year (46 businesses funded).
Department for Education / HMRC (Best Start in Life)
Updated August 2026: the childcarechoices.gov.uk site now redirects permanently to beststartinlife.gov.uk — officialUrl updated accordingly. Gives working parents in England 30 hours a week of government-funded childcare for 38 weeks a year, for children from the term after they turn 9 months old right through to starting school — worth roughly £3,000 to £7,500 a year per child depending on how it's used. Each parent needs to be earning at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the National Minimum Wage, and each parent's own adjusted net income must stay under £100,000 a year (assessed individually, not as a household total); eligibility has to be reconfirmed every 3 months.
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
Tax-free benefit for children under 16 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who need more looking after or have more difficulty getting around than a child of the same age without a disability or long-term health condition. Claimed by a parent or guardian on the child's behalf.
Wakefield Council
Wakefield's own £1.5m local delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, branded the Home Energy Retrofit Offer (HERO), funding solar PV, loft and cavity wall insulation, air source heat pumps, and high-efficiency electric storage heaters for qualifying private households across the district. Runs until March 2028 with funding released in annual phases; the 2025/26 phase's funding was fully allocated by the time of this research pass, with new applicants joining a waiting list for the 2026/27 phase.
Motability Operations (charity-overseen, using the mobility component of a qualifying DWP/Social Security Scotland benefit)
Lets recipients of the enhanced/higher mobility rate of a qualifying disability benefit exchange that payment for the lease of an accessible car, scooter, or powered wheelchair — insurance, breakdown cover, servicing, maintenance, and tyres are typically included in the lease.
Fife Council
Grant delivered by Business Gateway Fife on behalf of Fife Council's Economic Development team to help people starting a new business in Fife cover early costs such as equipment, stock, and certification, fully funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
South Midlands Growth Hub
A £1.8 million, 3-year capital grant programme for SMEs, micro-businesses and sole traders across North and West Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes, Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire, and Luton, funding investments in innovation, new technology adoption, or green/decarbonisation improvements (machinery, equipment, premises improvements, software and digital tools). Delivered by the South Midlands Growth Hub (the successor to the SEMLEP-era 'South East Midlands' branding) with rounds run periodically via a two-stage Expression of Interest then full-application process; round one (closed December 2025) awarded £609,598.93 to 22 businesses from over 130 applicants.
Social Security Scotland
Scotland's devolved replacement for Personal Independence Payment — the main disability benefit for working-age adults resident in Scotland, covering the extra costs of a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability.
Department for Education (delivered via local authorities to childcare providers)
Additional funding paid to a child's early years childcare provider (not directly to parents) to support reasonable adjustments — such as extra staff training or equipment — enabling a disabled child to access their funded childcare place in England.
The Highland Council
Flat-rate £1,000 grant delivered by Business Gateway Highland on behalf of The Highland Council to help individuals turn a business idea into a trading business, open to all sectors and business types across the Highland Council area.
Nottingham City Council
Nottingham's replacement for the Household Support Fund — £21.2m over three years (April 2026–March 2029) delivered with partners including Advice Nottingham and local voluntary/community groups. Funds emergency financial assistance, discretionary housing payments, energy support, housing services, and employment programmes, with an explicit emphasis on preventing hardship and building longer-term resilience rather than only one-off vouchers.
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Richmond upon Thames's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026 and running to 31 March 2029. Distinctively delivered not directly by council staff but by two commissioned local charities — RAID and Citizens Advice Richmond — who distribute funding to low-income households (including working families on modest incomes) facing unexpected financial pressure, bringing together crisis support, housing-cost shortfall support, and longer-term resilience building.
Huntingdonshire District Council
A £750,000, three-year Delivery Fund (following a successful £50,000 pilot in August 2025) backing voluntary/community sector organisations, social enterprises and local partnerships in Huntingdonshire that tackle the root causes of poor health and economic inequality — improving physical/mental health, economic resilience through employment and skills, or social connection. Individual requests are capped at £50,000, with at least 10% of the project required to focus on prevention and demonstrable match funding (cash or in-kind) from partners.
Leeds City Council
Free home energy-efficiency improvements — insulation and heating upgrades — for privately-owned Leeds households on a low income or receiving means-tested benefits, where the property has an EPC rating of D–G. Delivered on the council's behalf by Sustainable Building Services and Groundwork Yorkshire, as the local arm of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant programme. No capped funding figure is published; apply directly via the delivery partner's site.
Redditch Borough Council
Redditch Borough Council's own Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG) scheme, funded by around £2.25m of DESNZ (Wave 3) capital funding across 2025/26-2027/28, offering fully funded energy-efficiency upgrades to eligible low-income owner-occupiers. The council has focused allocation on the Woodrow area, where deprivation levels are higher than elsewhere in the borough, rather than running the scheme borough-wide.
Inverclyde Council
Inverclyde Council grant reimbursing up to 50% of eligible capital expenditure for established local businesses, delivered through Business Gateway Inverclyde following a one-to-one adviser consultation.
Manchester City Council
Manchester's local Crisis and Resilience Fund implementation, replacing the Household Support Fund from April 2026, offering small emergency cash grants for residents on qualifying benefits facing an out-of-the-ordinary crisis, plus a separate Housing Payment strand replacing the former Discretionary Housing Payments.
Dorset Council (consortium lead, on behalf of BCP Council)
Free or subsidised home energy-efficiency improvements — insulation, heating upgrades, and renewable energy technologies — for lower-income households in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, delivered through the Dorset Council-led 'Dorset Warm Homes' consortium (Ridgewater Energy) under the national Warm Homes: Local Grant.
Bracknell Forest Council
A one-off funding opportunity for Bracknell Forest community groups and charities to provide crisis support to vulnerable households facing financial hardship, funded from the council's Crisis and Resilience Fund allocation. Grants of up to £20,000 are available for eligible projects supporting food, energy costs, or related essentials.
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Cheshire West and Chester Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended nationally 31 March 2026. Provides Crisis Payments for a sudden or unexpected financial shock, school-holiday food support for families with school-age children, essential furniture and white goods through the HELP scheme, rent/council tax shortfall assistance, heating oil support, and welfare/debt advice, alongside grants to local voluntary and community organisations delivering complementary support.
Derby City Council
Derby City Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, a £4.761m three-year programme (April 2026 to March 2029) replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments. Delivered across four strands: Crisis Payments (rapid financial support for urgent need), Housing Payments (support to prevent homelessness), Resilience Services (early help and wraparound support), and Community Coordination (strengthened partnership working across the city).
East Ayrshire Council
Wage-subsidy grant for East Ayrshire small and medium-sized employers who recruit local residents facing barriers to employment, worth up to £5,000 per employee taken on.
Kent County Council (crisis support centrally; Housing Payments delivered by district/borough councils)
Kent County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments which both ended nationally 31 March 2026, backed by a £60.5m three-year settlement (£19.2m in 2026/27, £19.2m in 2027/28, and £22.1m in 2028/29). Crisis support — covering food and energy crises, serious financial shocks such as redundancy, bereavement, domestic abuse, or fire/flood damage, plus budgeting and employment advice — is administered on the county council's behalf, while Housing Payments (for a shortfall between Housing Benefit/Universal Credit and actual rent) are administered individually by each Kent district and borough council.
Medway Council
Medway Council's Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — backed by a refreshed Crisis and Resilience Plan 2026-2028 agreed by Cabinet on 4 August 2026 (£4.59m for 2026/27 and 2027/28, rising to £4.68m for 2028/29, with £1.1m specifically allocated to the crisis payments strand). Four components: Crisis Payment for residents facing budget and wellbeing pressure, Housing Payment for those with Housing Benefit/Universal Credit entitlement whose tenancy is at risk, Resilience Services via the council's Financial Welfare Hub, and Community Coordination investment in local support activities.
Glasgow City Council
Two-stream fund for Glasgow's city centre: 'Meanwhile Use' helps activate vacant ground-floor units (pop-ups, short-term leases, third-sector occupation), and 'Minor Improvement Grant' covers small property or visual improvements.
Hull City Council (delivered by E.ON)
Hull City Council's standalone Warm Homes: Local Grant allocation (£3.4m from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero over three years, delivered by E.ON Green Funding Solutions), funding wall/loft/underfloor insulation, air source heat pumps, smart heating controls, and solar panels for eligible privately-owned Hull homes, delivered as an assessed package rather than individually selected measures. This is an individual DESNZ allocation, not part of a wider consortium.
North Lanarkshire Council
North Lanarkshire Council pilot grant, delivered via Business Gateway Lanarkshire, reimbursing up to 50% of eligible costs for SMEs bringing vacant ground-floor retail units back into use across eight named North Lanarkshire town centres.
Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector, on behalf of Glasgow City Council
Small grants administered by Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector on the city council's behalf, for projects that improve adult mental wellbeing in Glasgow — prioritising groups facing disadvantage or exclusion, or those particularly affected by the cost-of-living crisis. Constituted organisations can apply for up to £10,500 and unconstituted groups for up to £2,000, provided the funded activity runs for at least 6 months and completes within 18 months. Now in its sixth year, with the 2026 window running 17 August to 29 September.
Local Scottish councils (statutory scheme)
Scotland's national statutory equivalent to England's Household Support Fund/Crisis and Resilience Fund — a distinct scheme with its own legal basis, administered locally by every Scottish council rather than a single national body. Crisis Grants cover urgent short-term needs (emergency food, fuel, clothing); Community Care Grants cover longer-term needs (furniture, white goods) for people leaving care or setting up a home.
Department for Communities (Northern Ireland)
Northern Ireland's national statutory crisis and hardship scheme, equivalent to England's Crisis and Resilience Fund, Scotland's Scottish Welfare Fund and Wales's Discretionary Assistance Fund — but administered directly by the Department for Communities rather than by local councils, since NI's district councils don't run welfare/crisis-support functions the way English/Scottish/Welsh councils do. It helps with short-term living expenses (e.g. buying food), buying, repairing or replacing basic household items (e.g. a cooker), limited travel expenses, and rent payable in advance to a private landlord (not the Northern Ireland Housing Executive). Support is awarded case-by-case as either an interest-free loan or a non-repayable grant depending on circumstances, rather than a fixed published amount.
Somerset Council
Somerset Council's £21.5m three-year Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026, delivered with Citizens Advice Somerset as lead delivery partner. Covers crisis payments (fast emergency help for essentials like food and fuel), short-term support with housing costs, and longer-term financial wellbeing support, working with schools, family hubs, and local voluntary and community sector organisations.
Swansea Council
A four-strand business-support programme jointly funded by the UK and Welsh governments: a Pre-start Grant for new/unregistered enterprises, a Growth Grant for job-creating expansion, and Carbon Reduction and Innovation Grants for decarbonisation and new-product development respectively.
Swansea Council
A long-running Swansea Council-administered charitable trust grant for voluntary, charitable, or benevolent groups based in or serving Swansea, with a distinct capped stream for churches, chapels, and places of worship.
North Ayrshire Council
Flexible grant and consultancy funding from North Ayrshire Council's Business Team to help new businesses, existing businesses, and businesses relocating to North Ayrshire survive and grow, assessed case-by-case in line with the council's Community Wealth Building aspirations.
Sevenoaks District Council
Sevenoaks District Council's standalone delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, backed by a £1,670,000 government allocation. Funds free or subsidised energy-efficiency and low-carbon heating improvements for eligible low-income homeowners and private tenants across the district.
Trafford Council
Trafford's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, a three-year settlement replacing the Household Support Fund. Provides Crisis Payments (the majority of Year 1 spend) covering food, energy, and other household essentials, plus Housing Payments and Resilience Services aimed at longer-term financial stability.
Maidstone Borough Council
Maidstone Borough Council's annual Community Grants programme, running as three themed funding rounds across 2026/27. Community groups, charities, Community Interest Companies and faith groups can apply for grants of up to £4,999 for a one-off project, or up to £9,999 where the application shows strong partnership working, clear community benefit, and sustainable outcomes. The first round of 2026/27, themed around Town Centre Inclusion and Safety, closed 16 August 2026.
West Northamptonshire Council (delivered by Sureserve Energy Services UK Ltd)
Free or subsidised home energy-efficiency improvements — insulation, draught-proofing, smart heating controls, and low-carbon heating for both on- and off-gas-grid homes — for lower-income households in West Northamptonshire, funded by a £2.6m Warm Homes: Local Grant award over three years and delivered directly by the council in partnership with Sureserve Energy Services UK Ltd (a standalone allocation, not part of a multi-council consortium).
Perth and Kinross Council
Perth and Kinross Council capital grant for businesses investing in physical assets that support growth and deliver a positive sustainability impact, with preference given to projects that reduce carbon footprint.
Orkney Islands Council
Small grant from Orkney Islands Council, delivered via Business Gateway Orkney, toward the set-up costs of new businesses trading in Orkney for less than 6 months — a lower ceiling than equivalent mainland council schemes, reflecting the scale of Orkney's economy.
Gateshead Council
Free energy-saving home improvements — wall, loft and underfloor insulation, air source heat pumps, smart heating controls, solar panels — for lower-income Gateshead homeowners and private landlords, delivered as the local arm of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant. Landlords' first property is covered in full, with further properties covered up to 50%.
Cambridgeshire County Council
Cambridgeshire County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026 and running to 31 March 2029, funded by the DWP. Individual crisis payments are accessed via district-specific Citizens Advice referral rather than a single application form, while a separate voluntary-sector grants strand — Small Grants (up to £4,750) and Large Grants (up to £25,000) — funds community organisations tackling financial hardship and building resilience across the county.
North Lanarkshire Council
North Lanarkshire Council grant, delivered via Business Gateway Lanarkshire, funding capital expenditure, infrastructure improvement, workforce/skills development, or exhibition support for SMEs in the council's priority sectors.
NHS Business Services Authority
Prepaid NHS card scheme helping low-income pregnant women and families with children under 4 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland buy healthy food (milk, fruit, vegetables, pulses, infant formula) and free vitamins.
Bolsover District Council
A capital grants programme funded from Bolsover District Council's £15m Levelling Up-era settlement, running through Spring 2028 with grant pots of £110,000 (2025/26), £52,000 (2026/27) and £52,000 (2027/28). Funds capital-only projects that create a 'lasting legacy' for local communities — playground equipment, community gardens, public art, building improvements, accessibility upgrades — with grants of £500-£10,000 for adults (up to £500 for 16-18 year olds trialling ideas).
Erewash Borough Council
Erewash Borough Council's three-strand community grants offer for 2026/27 and 2027/28: Fast Funding Grants (£500-£1,500, £40,000/year, for revenue costs like room hire, equipment, staffing and volunteer training), Member Grants (£2,000-£3,500, £25,000/year, requiring a supporting Erewash borough councillor — currently closed with all funding allocated), and VCS Sustainability & Activation Grants (£5,000-£50,000, £300,000 total across both years, for infrastructure costs or new project activation, released across four application rounds).
East Hampshire District Council
East Hampshire District Council scheme giving each district councillor an annual budget of £7,000 to award to voluntary organisations, parish councils and community clubs running projects within their ward. Grants of up to £1,000 per councillor are available, and applicants can approach more than one councillor for larger projects.
Teignbridge District Council
Teignbridge District Council's Green Business Grant (now in its third phase, with around £750,000 available) helps businesses, community organisations, CICs and charities across Teignbridge reduce their carbon footprint and energy costs. Grants of £3,000-£20,000 cover 80% of eligible costs for businesses and 100% for community organisations, charities and not-for-profit organisations; solar panel installations are capped at 50% of costs up to £10,000.
Newport City Council
Capital grant from Newport City Council, funded through Welsh Government's Transforming Towns programme, aimed at revitalising vacant commercial space, creating upper-floor residential accommodation, and stimulating further private investment in and around Newport's City Centre High Street and Northern Gateway area.
Lancaster City Council (delivered in partnership with Lancaster District Community & Voluntary Solutions)
Grants of up to £1,000 (towards projects worth up to £10,000) for voluntary organisations, charities, faith organisations, social enterprises, and grassroots not-for-profit groups operating in the Lancaster district with an annual turnover under £500,000. Delivered by Lancaster City Council in partnership with Lancaster District Community & Voluntary Solutions (LDCVS), funding projects that build community involvement or resilience, contribute to carbon reduction, or support individual and community wellbeing.
Brentwood Borough Council
Brentwood Borough Council's £50,000 Beyond the High Street Grant Fund, offering grants of up to £2,000 to businesses in shopping parades, villages and other commercial areas outside Brentwood town centre, Shenfield High Street and Ingatestone High Street, for shopfront repairs, repainting, signage, external lighting, guttering, and accessibility improvements (ramps, widened doorways, handrails, power-assisted doors).
Castle Point Borough Council
Castle Point Borough Council's £88,000 Community Health and Infrastructure Grant Scheme, funding projects that improve health, wellbeing and local infrastructure across the borough (including Canvey Island). Standard grants of £2,000 to £5,000 and capital grants of up to £10,000 are available; past-funded projects include wellbeing programmes for older residents, cycling initiatives, school counselling, and home adaptations for older and disabled residents.
Lincolnshire County Council
Lincolnshire County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended nationally 31 March 2026, running under a three-year 2026-29 settlement. Provides crisis payments (often as vouchers for energy, food, and essentials) for households facing a sudden financial shock, alongside a Housing Payment strand — replacing Discretionary Housing Payments — administered locally by district councils across Lincolnshire including Boston, East Lindsey, City of Lincoln, and North Kesteven.
Hampshire County Council (Crisis Payments via Citizens Advice; Housing Payments delivered by district/borough councils)
Hampshire County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments which both ended nationally 31 March 2026, backed by up to £33m through to March 2029 (£10.4m allocated for 2026/27 alone). Crisis Payments — for residents facing sudden financial hardship, including extra support for households struggling with heating oil costs and continued backing for community food pantries — are administered on the county council's behalf by local Citizens Advice services, while Housing Payments — for a shortfall between Housing Benefit/Universal Credit and actual rent — are administered individually by each Hampshire district and borough council.
Gloucester City Council
Gloucester City Council capital funding from Community Infrastructure Levy receipts collected on new development, for projects that improve community facilities, wellbeing, the local environment, or celebrate cultural diversity. Smaller project ideas of up to £3,000 and larger grants of up to £15,000 are both considered, on a rolling basis.
Shetland Islands Council
Grant jointly funded by Shetland Islands Council's Economic Development Service and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, delivered via Business Gateway Shetland, supporting capital investment, training costs, and marketing/promotion for newly established small and medium-sized businesses in Shetland.
Renfrewshire Council
Renfrewshire Council grant, delivered with Invest in Renfrewshire, helping small and medium-sized businesses (fewer than 250 employees worldwide) move into empty ground-floor commercial premises across Paisley, Johnstone, Renfrew, Linwood, or Erskine town centres. Covers up to 50% match funding, to a maximum of £25,000, paid retrospectively once the project is complete and suppliers have been paid. A number of sectors are excluded, including betting shops, tanning services, and fast-food outlets; applications are accepted year-round.
Test Valley Borough Council
A £1,200 grant from Test Valley Borough Council, paid in two £600 instalments, to encourage independently-owned businesses — shops, cafés/restaurants, medical/health services, community shops, and certain other uses — to take up vacant ground-floor premises in Andover or Romsey town centres.
Gloucester City Council
Gloucester City Council funding for local artists and community groups to create or develop cultural events, projects and programmes that boost the city's cultural calendar — from £1,000 grants to test new ideas or grow existing activity, up to £12,000 for significant events or programmes. Funding covers activity taking place between April 2026 and March 2027; the fund has backed 42 projects to date, including a nationally acclaimed circus company's residency in Matson and a month-long contemporary art trail across the city centre.
Rushmoor Borough Council (fund levied by Farnborough Airport)
A community fund levied by Farnborough Airport on business aviation movements (at £2 or £5 per movement depending on aircraft type) and distributed by Rushmoor Borough Council to local groups and organisations within around 5km of the airport, for projects with environmental or community benefit. The pot varies year to year with aircraft movement levels — £93,647 was awarded in 2024.
South Ayrshire Council
South Ayrshire Council grant supporting events and initiatives that grow the area's visitor economy or deliver intangible cultural benefits valued by local residents, assessed against the council's key offers and council plan commitments.
Hart District Council
Hart District Council discretionary top-up of up to a further £30,000 for disabled residents whose home adaptation works cost more than the mandatory national Disabled Facilities Grant maximum of £30,000, assessed case-by-case where a qualifying household cannot otherwise afford the shortfall.
Severn Wye (on behalf of South Gloucestershire Council and six Gloucestershire district councils)
Fully-funded energy-saving home upgrades — insulation, low-carbon heating systems, solar panels, and free energy surveys — for lower-income households in South Gloucestershire, delivered through 'Warm and Well', a £5.25m Warm Homes: Local Grant scheme run by the charity Severn Wye on behalf of South Gloucestershire Council and six Gloucestershire district councils (Gloucester, Cheltenham, Tewkesbury, Cotswold, Stroud, and Forest of Dean).
Torfaen County Borough Council
Welsh Government Transforming Towns-funded capital grant from Torfaen County Borough Council supporting the external and internal improvement, and re-use of vacant or under-utilised commercial floorspace, in Pontypool, Blaenavon, and Cwmbran town centres.
Better Housing Better Health / National Energy Foundation (delivery partner for member councils)
Free energy-efficiency upgrades and low-carbon heating — worth up to £30,000 per home — for lower-income privately-owned and privately-rented households across an eight-council Hertfordshire consortium (Broxbourne, East Hertfordshire, North Hertfordshire, St Albans, Stevenage, Three Rivers, Watford, and Welwyn Hatfield) delivered by Better Housing Better Health (BHBH), a service run by the National Energy Foundation, under the national Warm Homes: Local Grant.
Winchester City Council
Winchester City Council small-scale, one-off grants of up to £700 for local voluntary and not-for-profit groups, aimed at initial set-up costs, new equipment, or one-off project expenses aligned with community health and support priorities. Open for the 2026/27 financial year from 18 May 2026 to 31 January 2027 (or earlier if fully allocated), with decisions made quarterly.
Gravesham Borough Council
Gravesham Borough Council's discretionary top-up to the mandatory national Disabled Facilities Grant, for disabled or vulnerable residents with a critical health condition who have an assessed contribution to pay towards their adaptation works but cannot afford it. Also available more generally as a top-up on top of the mandatory £30,000 cap.
Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, the successor to the Household Support Fund which ended nationally 31 March 2026, running under the national 2026-29 three-year settlement. Combines a Crisis Support Scheme — emergency funding for households in financial crisis, including help with heating costs — with a Holiday Activities and Food programme, community larder/food-network support, cost-of-living advice services, and a Housing Payment strand (successor to Discretionary Housing Payments) administered locally by each of Oxfordshire's district and city councils.
Powys County Council
UK Shared Prosperity Fund capital grant from Powys County Council helping micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (including those relocating to the county) buy productivity-boosting equipment or invest in greener technologies such as replacement lighting or heating systems.
Hyndburn Borough Council
Hyndburn Borough Council grants supporting local entrepreneurs and established businesses to invest, diversify, or grow — up to £2,000 for start-ups and up to £5,000 for existing businesses based in the borough. Runs on a rolling basis, subject to available council funding, following on from a previous UKSPF-supported round.
London Borough of Harrow
Harrow's local Crisis and Resilience Fund for 2026-2029, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments from 1 April 2026. Cabinet was scheduled to approve the council's CRF policy and delivery plan on 11 June 2026, but the council's own Household Support Fund page still described Harrow's CRF as 'currently being designed' at the time of this research pass — a genuine ambiguity flagged below rather than resolved by assumption.
Norwich City Council
Free energy-efficiency and heating upgrades — insulation, ventilation improvements, and low-carbon heating such as heat pumps — worth up to £30,000 per household, for owner-occupied or privately-rented homes in Norwich with an EPC rating of D, E, F, or G. Delivered directly by Norwich City Council in partnership with E.ON as its trusted delivery partner, separate from the Broadland-led 'Norfolk Warm Homes' consortium covering the surrounding districts.
Nottinghamshire County Council
Nottinghamshire County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, the successor to the Household Support Fund which ended nationally 31 March 2026, running for three years from April 2026 with almost £30 million invested. Combines a general crisis-support strand — one-off help with essentials like food, energy, hygiene products, and clothing for households facing a sudden financial shock — with a separate Housing Payment strand for shortfalls between Housing Benefit or Universal Credit and rent, administered by each district council on the county's behalf across all seven Nottinghamshire districts.
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029. Provides a Crisis Payment strand for emergency financial assistance (food, heating, energy bills, housing costs, essential furniture, emergency transport) and a Crisis and Resilience Fund Housing Payment (CRF-HP) strand, the renamed successor to Discretionary Housing Payments.
Derry City and Strabane District Council
Capital grants for existing rural micro-businesses in Derry City and Strabane to buy equipment, machinery, computers, or build an e-commerce website, funded through DAERA's Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation Programme and delivered locally by the council.
London Borough of Sutton
Sutton's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — launched 7 April 2026, providing both an immediate safety net and longer-term financial resilience-building for low-income residents. Structured around direct Crisis Payments for urgent one-off essential costs (often paid within 48 hours), Community Financial Resilience Services (debt management, budgeting, employment support, affordable credit access), and Community Coordination, delivered under a 'No Wrong Door' policy that gives crisis applicants warm referrals into debt advice, benefit checks, and employment coaching.
Nottinghamshire County Council (Midlands Net Zero Hub, delivered by Nottingham Energy Partnership and Broadoak Properties)
Free home energy-efficiency and low-carbon heating upgrades — including loft, cavity wall, solid wall and room-in-roof insulation, solar PV, and air source heat pumps — for lower-income households in Gedling, Broxtowe, and Ashfield, delivered by Nottinghamshire County Council under the Midlands Net Zero Hub's Warm Homes: Local Grant allocation, running until March 2028. Nottingham Energy Partnership (NEP) processes applications, with Broadoak Properties as the exclusive installer.
Local councils (Wales), under a national scheme set by the Welsh Government
A means-tested reduction — up to 100% — in a household's Council Tax bill for people on a low income, run under a single national scheme set by the Welsh Government and applied consistently across all Welsh councils (unlike England, where each council runs its own version). Supports over 256,000 low-income households across Wales and is uprated periodically to reflect cost-of-living changes.
Westminster City Council (administered by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea)
A narrow but currently live Westminster City Council welfare scheme providing a store voucher toward essential white goods and bedding for tenants moving into new rented accommodation via a council-supported move, or returning home after an extended hospital/residential care stay. Administered on Westminster's behalf by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
A one-off £300 payment toward heating oil costs for Blackburn with Darwen households off the gas grid, funded through the council's Crisis and Resilience Fund allocation (over £10m across three years, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended nationally 31 March 2026).
Buckinghamshire Council
Buckinghamshire Council's crisis payment scheme, branded 'Helping Hand' and funded through the Crisis and Resilience Fund, which went live from 1 April 2026 replacing the Household Support Fund. Supports low-income households facing a sudden, unexpected expense or drop in income putting them at immediate risk of hardship.
Central Bedfordshire Council
Free home energy-efficiency upgrades — insulation, draught-proofing, double/triple glazing, solar panels, and battery storage — worth up to £15,000 per property, for eligible low-income Central Bedfordshire households, funded by a standalone Warm Homes: Local Grant allocation to the council under the national scheme running 2025 to 2028.
Local councils (England, Scotland, Wales)
A simple, nationwide 25% discount on Council Tax for anyone who is the only adult (18+) living in their home as their main residence, or who lives with other adults who all count as 'disregarded' (e.g. full-time students). Extremely commonly missed — for example when a partner moves out, an adult child leaves home, or a household member dies and the remaining resident doesn't proactively notify the council that they're now living alone.
Rushcliffe Borough Council (delivered by Nottingham Energy Partnership)
Free home energy-efficiency upgrades — loft, solid wall, and external wall insulation, solar PV, and air source heat pumps — for lower-income households in Rushcliffe with an EPC rating of D-G, delivered as Rushcliffe Borough Council's own separately-procured allocation rather than through Nottinghamshire County Council's Gedling/Broxtowe/Ashfield scheme. Nottingham Energy Partnership (NEP) processes applications on the council's behalf.
Cumberland Council (in partnership with Westmorland and Furness Council)
Free home energy-efficiency improvements — loft/cavity wall insulation, solar panels, and high-retention storage heaters — for lower-income households in Cumberland, funded by the national Warm Homes: Local Grant and running until March 2028. Delivered jointly with neighbouring Westmorland and Furness Council (the other 2023 Cumbria unitary), with delivery in Cumberland focused on specific neighbourhoods with high fuel poverty given limited funding.
Dorset Council
Dorset Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing both the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments from 1 April 2026, with a £4.1m allocation for the first year (including a ringfenced £458,298 for housing-related costs) running until March 2029. Provides emergency financial support to residents on low incomes experiencing a financial shock, alongside longer-term support to build financial resilience.
Hartlepool Borough Council
A Hartlepool Borough Council scheme, in partnership with the Hartlepool Board, offering capital grants of up to £20,000 to businesses on York Road and Raby Road to fund shopfront improvements, signage, reinstatement of traditional building features, security shutters, and other external cosmetic enhancements. Opened for submissions 1 April 2026 and funded by the government's Pride in Place Impact Fund.
West Lothian Council
Larger West Lothian Council grant, delivered via Invest in West Lothian, supporting established businesses with a significant growth project — new products/services, new processes, manufacturing or quality improvements, or workforce development.
Staffordshire County Council (in partnership with Community Home Solutions)
Free home energy-efficiency and low-carbon heating upgrades — including loft, cavity wall, external wall and underfloor insulation, air source heat pumps with smart heating controls, and solar panels — for lower-income and vulnerable households across Staffordshire, delivered through a single countywide scheme led by Staffordshire County Council in partnership with Community Home Solutions and funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, rather than delivered separately by each district.
Hull City Council
Capital grants to Hull city-centre businesses and organisations for regeneration projects, funded from Hull City Council's £1.5m Pride in Place Impact Fund award (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government), aimed at creating, improving or refurbishing spaces and making the city centre more attractive to encourage economic activity. Has supported 31 small and medium-sized businesses so far, creating almost 150 full-time-equivalent jobs — including a £68,375 matched-funding award toward a rooftop events space on the K2 Tower.
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council)
Grant funded by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and delivered by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar's Business Gateway team, supporting new businesses and those trading for less than 5 years in the Outer Hebrides, with an enhanced rate for under-30s, net-zero projects, and Uist repopulation-zone businesses.
Wiltshire Council
Wiltshire Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026, with £13.4m confirmed over the three years to March 2029 (£4.4m in 2026/27, £4.4m in 2027/28, £4.6m in 2028/29). Includes an additional £783,725 targeted at households reliant on oil heating. Delivers Crisis Payments and Housing Payments for essential needs, plus resilience services helping residents manage finances, access advice, and build long-term financial stability.
North East Lincolnshire Council (delivered by YES Energy Solutions)
North East Lincolnshire Council's Warm Homes: Local Grant, delivered locally with community interest company YES Energy Solutions and funded through the 43-authority 'Midlands Net Zero Hub' WHLG consortium, expected to bring around £3.1m to the borough by March 2028 to fund insulation and heating upgrades for eligible households. Due to a high number of enquiries the scheme currently places all new interest on a waiting list.
Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council
Small annual council grant for voluntary and community organisations in Blaenau Gwent, supporting local groups' running costs or one-off community activities. Considered once a year in a single annual round rather than on a rolling basis.
North Yorkshire Council (delivered by Family Fund Business Services)
North Yorkshire Council's long-running local welfare scheme providing in-kind support — food and utility/energy vouchers, and essential household goods such as furniture, white goods, and clothing vouchers — to residents in financial hardship via authorised community organisations, now sitting as the Crisis Payments component of the wider Crisis and Resilience Fund (see separate overarching entry). Delivered in partnership with Family Fund Business Services.
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
A Cross Cluster Proof of Concept Call funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC, part of UKRI), offering up to £55,000 for business-led proof-of-concept projects that develop or demonstrate novel concepts, technologies or services anywhere within Health and Life Sciences. Part of the wider Liverpool City Region Life Sciences Innovation Zone — a 10-year programme with the potential to unlock up to £800m of government and private investment across Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, and Wirral — and signposted centrally through Growth Platform, the city region's Growth Hub.
Plymouth City Council (delivered with Citizens Advice Plymouth and Plymouth Energy Community)
Plymouth City Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026 with a £12.5m three-year DWP settlement running to 31 March 2029. Delivered in partnership with Citizens Advice Plymouth and Plymouth Energy Community, offering a financial contribution, vouchers, or goods in-kind for essential items such as food and energy costs, alongside wraparound advice on bills, benefits, and debt.
Rutland County Council
Rutland County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing Discretionary Housing Payments and the Household Support Fund with an £800,000 allocation across the three years to March 2029 — England's smallest unitary authority by population, so a correspondingly modest total pot. Delivered across four strands: Crisis Payments (cash support for a financial shock, targeted within 48 hours), Housing Payments (rent shortfalls and essential housing costs), Resilience Services (debt advice, income maximisation, budgeting, financial education), and Community Coordination.
South Gloucestershire Council
South Gloucestershire Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund with a more targeted approach to residents facing an unexpected financial shock such as job loss, bereavement, illness, or a sudden essential cost. As well as emergency payments, the fund provides practical advice and assistance on income maximisation, benefit checks, debt and household bill management, budgeting, energy costs, and food access.
Bridgend County Borough Council
Flexible start-up capital grant of £250–£4,000, covering up to 50% of eligible project costs, for new and existing micro-businesses in Bridgend County Borough — funding equipment, premises costs, and other eligible start-up expenditure. Historically delivered through a partnership with UK Steel Enterprise; worth confirming it's still live given a similarly structured Swansea scheme has since folded into a newer Pre-start Grant.
Norfolk County Council (delivered via New Anglia Growth Hub)
Discretionary capital grants of £5,000-£50,000, covering up to 30% of eligible project costs (minimum project size roughly £16,667), for Norfolk businesses pursuing a growth project — a unique market offer, export development, productivity improvement, or attracting further investment into the area. Delivered by Norfolk County Council through the New Anglia Growth Hub, with priority given to clean energy, agri-food, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, digital technology and financial services, plus rural and coastal businesses, and to applicants that have not received public grant support in the past three years.
Southend-on-Sea City Council
Southend-on-Sea City Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, live from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 (or until funding is exhausted), replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments. Provides Crisis Payments for households facing an unexpected expense or drop in earnings — covering food, hygiene products, utilities, essential furniture and white goods, clothing, and digital connectivity — plus a Housing Payment strand for rent and other housing costs.
Southend-on-Sea City Council
Free home energy-efficiency improvements — insulation, low-carbon heating, and solar panels — for lower-income households in Southend-on-Sea, funded by the national Warm Homes: Local Grant. Southend-on-Sea submitted letters of support as part of an Essex County Council-led consortium application, distinct from the Portsmouth-led Warmer Homes consortium found elsewhere in this trawl — no evidence was found linking Southend to that Hampshire-based consortium.
Lichfield District Council
Lichfield District Council scheme offering grants of up to £30,000 (from a £400,000 total fund) to restore and improve traditional shopfronts within the Lichfield City Centre Conservation Area — covering works such as reinstating original features, replacing modern additions, heritage-appropriate signage and lighting, accessibility improvements, and external decoration. Open to freehold property owners, leaseholders (with landlord's consent), independent businesses, social enterprises, and community-run businesses.
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
The main means-tested benefit for working-age people on a low income, whether in or out of work, paid as a single monthly payment (fortnightly by default in Northern Ireland; Scottish claimants can opt into fortnightly payments and direct-to-landlord housing payments) made up of a standard allowance plus extra elements for children, housing costs, caring responsibilities, or limited capability for work. Replaced six legacy benefits — Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit — for new claims; DWP's final managed-migration deadline has now passed, with Income Support and income-based JSA fully closed since 1 April 2026 and most remaining income-related ESA and working-age Housing Benefit claims closed by 30 June 2026 (a few exceptions remain, e.g. supported/temporary accommodation).
West Northamptonshire Council
West Northamptonshire Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments, running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029. Delivered through four mandatory strands — Crisis Payments (cash-first support, aiming for a decision within 48 hours), Housing Payments, Resilience Services, and Community Coordination — to give residents both urgent money support and longer-term help managing finances (benefits checks, budgeting, debt and energy advice).
Torbay Council
Torbay Council's £130,000 Enterprise Fund for independent SME businesses, offering a Start Up Grant of up to £3,000 (for new businesses registered on or after 1 April 2025, towards costs like websites or equipment) and a Retail Unit Improvement Grant of up to £5,000, pound-for-pound match-funded, for shopfront/signage/cosmetic improvements to independent town centre retail businesses in Torquay, Paignton, and Brixham.
City of York Council (delivered by Sureserve Energy Services Ltd)
Free home energy-efficiency improvements — loft/wall insulation, heat pumps, solar panels, smart heating controls, and double/triple glazing — for lower-income households in York, funded by around £2m from the national Warm Homes: Local Grant to improve around 140 homes to an EPC C rating, delivered directly by City of York Council in partnership with Sureserve Energy Services Ltd (a standalone allocation, not part of a wider North Yorkshire consortium).
City of York Council (administered by Two Ridings Community Foundation)
A City of York Council-funded scheme administered by the Two Ridings Community Foundation on the council's behalf, offering Micro Grants (up to £1,000) and Collaboration Grants (up to £13,500) to York-based groups working in one of four priority areas: equalities and human rights, affordability and cost of living, climate action, and health and wellbeing. Emphasises supporting leadership development, involving people with lived experience in project design, and funding less-popular causes.
Cambridge City Council
Cambridge City Council's Community Grants scheme, funding organisations that help build 'a fairer, greener and more inclusive Cambridge' through three tiers: Small Community Grants (£5,000 or under), Large Community Grants (up to £10,000/year for up to three years), and Organisation Support Grants for longer-term organisational resilience. Funding is allocated in proportion to how many Cambridge residents benefit, even where an activity's reach extends beyond the city.
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead's long-standing grants scheme for not-for-profit voluntary organisations, historically covering several categories including running costs, equipment, transport, administration, premises hire, building projects, one-off events, staffing costs, and training. As of the August 2026 re-verification, all three of its funding categories (Capital Grants, Kidwells Park Trust Grants, and Revenue Grants) are explicitly closed to new applications on the council's own page — only historic 2021-23 award data remains published. A separate Community Grassroots Fund also supports small voluntary and community groups with advocacy, community voice, and service provision work.
Amber Valley Borough Council
Small discretionary grants awarded by individual Amber Valley borough councillors — up to £500 per councillor per year, with individual grants capped at £100 — to support one-off local purchases, events, or activities that benefit residents in their ward. Runs from April 2025 to March 2027.
Teignbridge District Council
Each Teignbridge district councillor is allocated £1,000 a year to award to one-off local community projects, maintained at that level for 2026/27 as part of a core voluntary grants budget increased 4% for three years to 2028/29. Cannot be used to replace withdrawn public funding or imply ongoing support.
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
A regular payment from the government once you reach State Pension age, based on your National Insurance record rather than your income or savings. Most people now get the 'new State Pension' (anyone reaching State Pension age on or after 6 April 2016); people who reached State Pension age before that date remain on the older 'basic State Pension' system, often topped up by Additional State Pension/SERPS or Pension Credit.
Barnsley Council
Grants for businesses on Barnsley Road, Doncaster Road, and High Street in Goldthorpe to improve premises security — including CCTV and security shutters — as part of the Goldthorpe Towns Fund programme and the wider Safer Streets initiative.
Wealden District Council
Wealden District Council's 2026/27 Councillor Ward Budgets Scheme, giving each Ward Councillor £10,000 to fund locally focused community projects and initiatives that improve outcomes for residents in their ward. Follows on from the 2025/26 round of ward-councillor funding.
Cornwall Council
A supplemental strand of Cornwall Council's Crisis and Resilience Fund, backed by £1.5m of extra funding, providing a contribution toward heating oil costs for residents whose homes are off the gas grid and struggling with surging oil prices.
Swale Borough Council
Swale Borough Council grants of £1,000-£10,000 (covering up to 75% of capital cost) to not-for-profit organisations improving community facilities and amenities across the borough — helping increase visitor numbers, provide a new service, or reduce a facility's carbon footprint.
Hackney Council
Hackney's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, allocated £6.1m in 2026/27, £6.1m in 2027/28, and £5.9m in 2028/29, replacing the Household Support Fund. Marks a deliberate shift from the Household Support Fund's crisis-heavy approach (around 80% of that programme) toward longer-term preventive support for financial resilience, while still covering essentials such as food, housing, heating, water, electricity, and basic furniture/appliances.
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
Hammersmith and Fulham's local hardship scheme, funded through the Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026. Superseded from 1 April 2026: the council's Crisis Payment scheme now replaces both the Local Support Payment and the Hardship Prevention Payment that ran in 2025/26, funded through the Crisis and Resilience Fund like most other London boroughs' equivalent schemes. Provides a payment for residents who cannot manage an emergency or crisis on a low income; white goods, furniture, and household items are no longer routinely covered (only in exceptional, health/safety-risk cases with professional evidence).
Hart District Council
Hart District Council's new Here for Hart Community Grants scheme, with £440,000 available to community and voluntary organisations across the district, split into a smaller-projects fund (up to £5,000) and a larger-projects fund (up to £50,000). Focused on initiatives helping residents stay well, promoting inclusion and community connection, and supporting people facing challenges, with at least £40,000 ring-fenced for projects supporting young people.
Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council
Capital grants for existing small rural businesses in Antrim and Newtownabbey to buy equipment, machinery, computers, or build an e-commerce website, funded through DAERA's Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation Programme and delivered locally by the council.
West Midlands Combined Authority and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
Grants of £100,000 to £1 million (for projects sized £200,000-£2 million with 50% industry match funding) to commercialise near-to-market R&D at scale, for businesses developing new products and services in one of three priority areas: the Clinical Commercial Catalyst for Health & Life Sciences, CISL for Creative and Immersive Technologies, or FORGE for Advanced Manufacturing. Delivered by the West Midlands Combined Authority and UKRI across all seven WMCA authorities, following the consolidation of the former Black Country, Coventry & Warwickshire, and Greater Birmingham & Solihull Growth Hubs into a single 'Business Growth West Midlands' service.
Cornwall Council
Cornwall Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing both the Household Support Fund and the council's own Crisis & Care Awards scheme from 1 April 2026, with an allocation of £8.25m for 2026/27 (expected to total over £24.7m across the three-year programme). Covers emergency financial assistance for essentials like food, energy, and emergency housing costs, plus a housing-related strand replacing discretionary housing payments and referrals to debt, benefits, and employment support.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council
BCP Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments which ended 31 March 2026. Provides short-term crisis help and longer-term financial-stability support, delivered in partnership with Citizens Advice Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (crisis payments), Ridgewater Energy (energy and white-goods support), and Dorset Community Foundation (grants to local community/voluntary organisations).
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council
Capital grants for town-centre businesses in Ballymena, Larne, Carrickfergus, and Greenisland to improve the external appearance of their shopfronts, now in its third consecutive year with up to £604,000 available across the borough.
Maidstone Borough Council
Maidstone Borough Council grants of £500-£2,000 for arts and cultural community projects, from a £30,000 total pot for 2026/27. Relaunched and expanded borough-wide in April 2026 (previously restricted to the town centre), aiming to increase cultural participation, improve wellbeing, strengthen local identity, and promote environmental awareness through accessible arts activities.
South Staffordshire Council
South Staffordshire Council's £1.5m UK Shared Prosperity Fund-backed investment programme for the district, split into a £300,000 Business Investment Fund strand (grants of roughly £1,000 to £7,000 for entrepreneurs, expanding firms, and village-centre revitalisation projects, including a 'Start in South Staffs' start-up strand offering up to £1,000 at 80% funding) and a separate Community Groups and Local Initiatives Fund strand (grants of roughly £1,000 to £10,000 for events, clean-up campaigns, educational activities, sustainability projects and volunteer training).
West Suffolk Council
West Suffolk Council's Thriving Communities Fund, backing charities, community and voluntary organisations working on resident health and wellbeing, cost-of-living support, youth initiatives, domestic abuse victim support, and bereavement services. One-off project grants run from £2,000 to £8,000, with larger grants of £8,001 to £20,000 available for work supporting a wider area of West Suffolk.
Lancashire County Council (funding passed to district/borough councils for direct delivery)
Lancashire County Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended nationally 31 March 2026. Unlike some other counties in this directory, Lancashire does not split crisis support and housing support between the county and district tiers — instead, the county council passes CRF funding directly to each of its twelve district councils, which deliver both crisis payments and housing payments themselves, alongside wider resilience services such as affordable-warmth support and new community resilience hubs.
North Northamptonshire Council
North Northamptonshire Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments which ended nationally 31 March 2026, using a £13.18m DWP allocation across 2026-2029. Delivered across four strands: Crisis Payments (fast, cash-first help for urgent essential needs such as food, energy, and housing shortfalls), Housing Payments (rent shortfalls, deposits, and essential tenancy costs), Financial Resilience Services (income maximisation, debt and budgeting advice, energy support), and Community Coordination (Warm Spaces, assisted digital access, local support).
North Yorkshire Council
North Yorkshire Council's standalone local delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, funding insulation, draught-proofing, energy-efficient windows/doors, solar panels, battery storage, smart heating controls, and low-carbon heating (including heat pumps) for privately-owned homes across the district. Funding is currently prioritised toward Council Tax bands A-D and standard property types and construction, where improvements are most straightforward and cost-effective; park homes are excluded.
Herefordshire Council (Shropshire-led consortium)
Free energy-efficiency retrofits — loft/wall insulation, first-time double glazing, doors, solar PV, and heat pumps — for Herefordshire homes with an EPC rating of D-G, funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero from 2025-2028 as part of a Shropshire-led three-council consortium (Shropshire, Herefordshire, and Telford & Wrekin) that secured £7.4m nationally. Due to high demand the scheme is currently fully subscribed; new interest joins a waiting list.
Preston City Council
Preston City Council small grants scheme covering the Living Wage Foundation accreditation fee for micro, small, and medium-sized businesses and voluntary-sector employers headquartered in the Preston district, supporting them to become accredited Real Living Wage employers.
Southampton City Council
Southampton City Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended nationally 31 March 2026, running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029. Intended to support low-income households facing financial shocks with food and energy costs plus wider advice, and to fund activity building individual and community financial resilience — though it is explicitly not designed to provide same-day or next-day emergency assistance.
Torbay Council
Torbay Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, providing £2.5m/year and replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026, running to 31 March 2029. Delivers crisis payments for low-income households facing a disaster, accident, health emergency, relationship breakdown, or sudden income loss, plus Housing Payments to prevent homelessness, referrals to local advice/employability services, and community food aid through social supermarkets and foodbanks.
Devon County Council (on behalf of district/unitary partners, including Torbay Council)
Free home energy-efficiency retrofits — cavity wall and loft insulation, double glazing and insulated doors, draught-proofing, air source heat pumps, heating controls, and solar panels — for lower-income households in Torbay, funded by a £5.25m Warm Homes: Local Grant award running April 2025 to April 2028 across seven Devon authorities, delivered by Devon County Council on their behalf with EDF Energy managing installations.
Mid Ulster District Council
Capital grants, funded by the Department for Communities, for commercial property owners and tenants within the town-centre boundaries of Dungannon, Cookstown, Magherafelt, and Coalisland to carry out minor internal and external improvements to their premises.
Local councils (England)
A means-tested reduction — up to 100% — in a household's Council Tax bill for people on a low income or certain benefits. Unlike Scotland and Wales, England has no single national scheme: since 2013, every one of England's councils runs its own Local Council Tax Support scheme within a loose national framework, so maximum support, income thresholds, and whether working-age claimants can ever get 100% support vary significantly by council. Pension-age claimants are more protected nationally — anyone receiving the Guarantee Credit element of Pension Credit is entitled to up to 100% support under rules that are more standardised across councils than the working-age schemes.
North Devon Council
Each North Devon councillor is allocated £1,000 a year (under the council's 2023-2027 CCG policy) to award to charities, voluntary and community groups, and not-for-profit organisations delivering projects that directly benefit local people, the local environment, or the local community — covering equipment costs, activities, or day-to-day running costs.
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero / energy suppliers
Takes £150 off the electricity bill of eligible low-income households each winter, applied as a one-off annual credit. Most recipients qualify automatically through means-tested benefits data-matching, but there's also a separate disability-related route (for example via PIP, DLA, or Attendance Allowance) alongside the main low-income criteria — some suppliers still require you to apply, so it's worth checking with yours each winter.
Hastings Borough Council
Hastings Borough Council's £700,000 two-year Community Grants Programme, supporting capital improvements to spaces where people can be active, connect and thrive — building repairs and refurbishments, sports/activity area improvements, accessibility upgrades, and fixed or permanent equipment. Open to community groups, sports clubs, charities, and community interest companies (CICs) across multiple funding rounds.
Tendring District Council (Tendring4Growth), funded by the Community Regeneration Partnership
Capital grants of £1,000 to £20,000 from Tendring District Council's Tendring4Growth programme to improve shopfronts in Jaywick Sands — repainting, repairing windows/doors, and making good existing frontages — as part of wider regeneration of the area. Funded by the Community Regeneration Partnership (CRP), with payment contingent on the council continuing to receive central government funding. Equivalent schemes previously ran in Clacton and Holland but are now closed to new applications.
Monmouthshire County Council
Historic statutory grant fund administered by Monmouthshire County Council, supporting educational, social, recreational, religious, arts/culture, amateur sport, environmental, and other charitable-benefit projects across the county.
Solent Freeport and Solent Growth Partnership (Solent Business Growth Service)
A £2,000 incentive payment for small and medium-sized businesses across the Solent area recruiting an apprentice for the first time, with priority given to young people who have previously been not in education, employment, or training (NEET). Launched June 2026 by Solent Freeport and the Solent Growth Partnership through the Solent Business Growth Service, with a £50,000 total fund awarded first-come, first-served — note the Solent Growth Partnership's area has itself narrowed to Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, and Southampton City Councils rather than the wider historic Solent LEP footprint that used to include Hampshire districts such as Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport, and Havant.
Fareham Borough Council
Fareham Borough Council's annual Community Fund, supporting useful and sustainable projects that benefit a large number of Fareham residents and consider environmental impact. Requests under £5,000 are approved by the Executive Member for Leisure and Community; larger requests are treated as matched funding and only part-funded by the council.
East Suffolk Council
East Suffolk Council's Cost of Living Community Grants, offering £500 to £1,000 to community groups, voluntary organisations, and town and parish councils for projects that help keep local people warm, well-fed, and connected to others in their community.
Leicester City Council
Over £4.5m secured from DESNZ to fund insulation, solar panels, and low-carbon heating for low-income Leicester households, as the local delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant.
Coventry City Council
Coventry's local delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, offering free home energy-efficiency improvements (wall insulation, solar panels, heat pumps), currently targeted at Hillfields, Upper Stoke, and Lower Stoke.
Dudley Council
Grants of £1,000-£5,000 for Dudley town centre businesses, with priority given to those near the new Midland Metro extension and Dudley Interchange, to help them strengthen their offer and prepare for the increased footfall and connectivity these developments bring. Launched via Dudley Business First after the borough's earlier UKSPF-funded Dudley SME Grants Programme closed when UK Shared Prosperity Fund national funding ended on 31 March 2026.
Department for Work and Pensions
Help with the interest on your mortgage or a home-improvement loan if you're on a qualifying benefit — paid as a loan secured on your home rather than as a benefit, so it's repaid with interest when you sell or transfer ownership. Interest is calculated at a set rate (currently 3.66%) on up to £200,000 of your outstanding loan, or £100,000 if you get Pension Credit; at that rate £200,000 of mortgage produces around £610 a month paid directly to your lender. Waiting periods differ sharply by benefit: Pension Credit claimants can be helped straight away, Universal Credit claimants after 3 months in a row, and income-based ESA claimants after 39 weeks.
Wychavon District Council
Wychavon District Council's fully council-funded Growth Fund, supporting businesses to invest in new equipment, expand facilities, create new jobs, or improve productivity. Open to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, community interest companies, social enterprises, and commercially active not-for-profits based in the district.
Worcester City Council
Worcester City Council's Small Community Grants scheme, offering grants of up to £1,000 to community groups, charities, and voluntary organisations delivering small, measurable community activities that benefit residents across the city and align with the Worcester City Plan 2025-2030.
South Cambridgeshire District Council
South Cambridgeshire District Council's Community Chest, offering up to £2,000 per financial year (up to 100% of project costs) to community groups, Community Interest Companies, small parish/town councils (fewer than 200 registered electors), and other non-profits delivering projects on healthy communities, inclusive access, skills, or environmental improvement. £64,890 is available for 2026/27; a separate Biodiversity Grants stream is currently closed.
Aberdeenshire Council
Grant fund to bring vacant commercial premises in Fraserburgh town centre back into use, open to pop-up shops, creative spaces, community initiatives, and new business ventures with a viable idea to boost footfall.
Northern Ireland Housing Executive
Northern Ireland's mandatory adaptations grant, administered by the Housing Executive rather than a council. On a low income you can get grant aid up to £35,000, and in some cases the Housing Executive can increase the award to a maximum of £70,000 — noticeably higher than the caps in England (£30,000) and Wales (£36,000). The work has to be recommended by an occupational therapist, and the route in is your local Health and Social Care Trust rather than the Housing Executive directly. It is means-tested, with a calculation deciding whether you contribute towards the cost.
Inverclyde Council
Grant of up to £750 toward the start-up costs of new businesses trading from an Inverclyde address, delivered through Business Gateway Inverclyde alongside free business advisory support.
Moray Council
Moray Council grant for property owners and tenants in seven Moray town centres, funding conversion of vacant properties, business relocation, subdivision or expansion of buildings, new business start-ups in vacant premises, and shopfront, signage, or lighting improvements.
Scottish Government
A Scottish Government scheme, new in 2026, giving first-time buyers up to £10,000 towards a first home worth up to £300,000 on its home report value. The money is not a gift: the Scottish Government takes a proportionate share of the property, so £10,000 on a £100,000 home means it owns 10%. You need a mortgage covering at least 25% of the purchase price and usually a deposit of around 5%, and where you're buying with someone else only one of you has to be a first-time buyer. Not to be confused with the older First Home Fund, which ran from December 2019 to March 2022 and is closed.
Carmarthenshire County Council
Capital regeneration programme from Carmarthenshire County Council targeting ten smaller towns — Cross Hands, Cwmaman, Kidwelly, Laugharne, Llandeilo, Llandovery, Llanybydder, Newcastle Emlyn, St Clears, and Whitland — with three funding strands: a Capital Development Fund for vacant premises, an Event Fund for community groups, and a Town Centre Spaces Fund for public realm projects.
Enfield Council
Enfield's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments from 1 April 2026, with an indicative £7.4m annual allocation for 2026-2029 (including £1.67m for the Housing Payment/DHP element in years one and two). Includes a Council Tax Support Hardship Fund (increased to £1.5m for 2026/27, supporting around 4,700 low-income households) and Crisis Payments, with around 1,600 households expected to receive support for food, utilities, and white goods.
Home Energy Scotland (Energy Saving Trust, funded by Scottish Government)
Helps Scottish households pay for renewable heating and energy efficiency improvements, combining a grant of up to £9,000 with an optional interest-free loan of up to £7,500 on top. Caps vary depending on the specific measure being installed and whether the property is rural or off the gas grid — Home Energy Scotland's free advice service can confirm what applies to you before you apply.
Fermanagh and Omagh District Council
£1 million capital grants programme for community and voluntary organisations across Fermanagh and Omagh, funding larger strategic projects and medium capital projects that address unmet community needs such as health, wellbeing, accessibility, and community participation.
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), delivered by Innovate UK (UKRI)
Defra's agri-tech research and development programme, delivered in partnership with Innovate UK (UKRI) rather than through the Rural Payments Agency — genuinely separate from the Farming Investment Fund despite the similar name. Funds collaborative R&D projects (a lead business plus at least one other partner, e.g. a research organisation or farmer) to improve productivity, sustainability and resilience across farming, growing and forestry. Runs as a series of themed, periodically-reopening competitions on the Innovation Funding Service rather than one continuous scheme: as of September 2026, live competitions include Feasibility Studies Round 5 (£200,000-£500,000 projects from a £15 million pot, closing 9 September 2026), Small R&D Partnerships Round 5 (£1-3 million, closing 14 October 2026), and the Farming Futures: Automation and Robotics Round 2 competition (£20 million available, closing 30 September 2026), alongside the smaller, genuinely rolling ADOPT grant (roughly £2,500-£200,000) for on-farm trials of pre-commercial equipment.
Dundee City Council
Grant for Dundee city-centre commercial premises, covering exterior/shopfront improvements to occupied units or interior-and-exterior refurbishment of vacant units being brought back into productive use.
East Ayrshire Council
Grant reimbursing 50% of eligible start-up costs for East Ayrshire businesses trading 12 months or less, covering marketing, signage, training, trade show travel, accreditations, software, and product development.
Schools, colleges, and training providers (England), funded via the Department for Education / Education and Skills Funding Agency
Financial support for 16-19 year-olds (or up to 25 with an Education, Health and Care Plan) studying at a publicly-funded school, college, or training provider in England, to help with course-related costs like clothing, books and equipment, transport, and lunch on study days. Split into a 'vulnerable bursary' (up to £1,200/year, for students in narrowly-defined vulnerable groups — e.g. in care, care leavers, receiving Income Support or Universal Credit in their own right, or receiving Disability Living Allowance/PIP plus Employment and Support Allowance) and a discretionary bursary (no set amount, awarded by the school/college itself based on individual financial need and available funds) for everyone else from a lower-income household.
Falkirk Council
Grant to bring vacant high street and town-centre ground-floor premises across the Falkirk Council area back into use, funding conversion work, fixtures and fittings, energy efficiency, accessibility, and external/cosmetic improvements.
Local councils (England, Scotland, Wales); Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland)
UK-wide disabled parking permit scheme letting badge holders park closer to their destination, including in restricted on-street bays and some pay-and-display bays for free. Not a cash payment, but a real, practical, and widely-used entitlement.
Midlothian Council
Midlothian Council grant of £1,500 to help businesses and entrepreneurs in Midlothian set up a collaborative local business association with other businesses in the same sector or area.
Perth and Kinross Council
Perth and Kinross Council grant helping property owners and tenants upgrade and repurpose vacant commercial properties in the area's city and town centres, bringing them back into use as commercial, community, or residential premises.
NHS Business Services Authority (England, Scotland, Wales); Business Services Organisation (Northern Ireland)
Help with NHS health costs — prescriptions, dental treatment, glasses/contact lenses, wigs and fabric supports, and travel to NHS appointments — for people on a low income who don't already qualify for automatic help via another benefit. The scheme works the same way (an HC1 application leading to an HC2 certificate for full help, or an HC3 for partial help) across all four nations, but its relevance differs sharply by nation: prescriptions are already free for everyone in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, so the scheme mainly matters for prescription costs in England — but dental treatment, optical vouchers, and NHS travel costs are charged in all four nations, so the scheme (under its local branding, e.g. HC2W in Wales) remains genuinely relevant UK-wide for those specific costs.
London Borough of Waltham Forest
Waltham Forest's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029, combining a Housing Payments strand (short-term support for households struggling with housing costs) with a Crisis Payments and Local Welfare Assistance strand (emergency financial support for residents entering or at risk of a financial crisis who cannot afford basic essentials, prioritised where there's a risk to health or safety).
Social Security Scotland
Scotland's devolved replacement for child Disability Living Allowance — for children and young people under 16 living in Scotland who need extra care, supervision, or help getting around because of a physical or mental condition.
Epping Forest District Council
Small grants of up to £400 from Epping Forest District Council for local good causes registered with the Epping Forest Community Lottery (EFCL), the council's white-label fundraising lottery that returns a share of ticket sales to good causes across the district. Intended for community groups, charities, and voluntary organisations to top up their own EFCL fundraising.
London Borough of Havering
Havering's local Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 and delivered mainly through the council's Emergency Assistance Scheme (EAS). Combines immediate Crisis Support for residents facing urgent financial hardship (including those at risk of homelessness or a sudden loss of income) with longer-term Prevention and Resilience support delivered alongside Citizens Advice, Live Well Havering, the Havering Food Alliance, Warm Spaces, Energy Doctors, and Money Wellness.
Test Valley Borough Council
A flat £750 grant from Test Valley Borough Council to help new business start-ups located in the borough get established, paid once the business has been trading for at least six months. Aimed at owner-operated new start-ups rather than businesses continuing under new management or a new name/structure.
South Lanarkshire Council
Competitive, discretionary grant from South Lanarkshire Council, delivered through Business Gateway Lanarkshire, helping established full-time businesses strengthen their long-term sustainability and drive growth via capital expenditure, infrastructure improvement, consultancy, training, or trade show participation.
Stirling Council
Stirling Council grant for capital and revenue costs of small local projects that improve shared community spaces or foster community spirit — e.g. repairing structures, benches, and fencing, sustainable floral displays, recycling facilities, or community spring cleans.
Watford Borough Council
Watford Borough Council's Neighbourhood Grant invests a £300,000 funding pot in local community-led initiatives across the 2026/27 programme, supported by drop-in sessions and bookable one-to-one appointments for groups developing a project plan.
Swale Borough Council
Swale Borough Council's Member Grants Scheme gives each of the borough's 47 councillors £1,000 to allocate to small-scale local community projects delivering benefits in areas such as culture, sport, recreation, health, environment, heritage, community safety, crime reduction, and education — a total pot of £47,000.
Breckland Council
Breckland Council's community grant scheme funding local groups tackling issues such as domestic abuse, mental health, and social isolation, and early-intervention projects that prevent escalation into crisis. Grants of up to £5,000 are available, covering up to 50% of total project cost, with four funding rounds across the 2026/27 year totalling £84,000. Administered on the council's behalf by Norfolk Community Foundation.
Denbighshire County Council
Capital grant from Denbighshire County Council (formerly branded the Commercial Property Development Grant) helping commercial property owners and occupiers upgrade the exterior of vacant, underused, or run-down premises in the county's town centres.
Vale of Glamorgan Council
UK Government Local Growth Fund-backed bursary from Vale of Glamorgan Council helping residents start or grow a full-time business venture in the county, covering start-up and early growth costs set out in an approved business plan.
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council
Capital grants for eligible rural businesses across the Newry, Mourne and Down district to invest in equipment and infrastructure that improves productivity and competitiveness, funded through DAERA's Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation Programme and administered by the council on the department's behalf.
Flintshire County Council
Capital grant from Flintshire County Council helping commercial property owners and tenants improve shopfronts, windows, signage, and building exteriors in the county's town centres, funded by the UK Government's Pride in Place Impact Fund.
Gwynedd Council
Community and voluntary-sector grant fund from Gwynedd Council supporting third-sector projects that improve residents' quality of life and address social, cultural, economic, or environmental aims across the county.
Suffolk County Council (via Suffolk Business Board / New Anglia Growth Hub)
Tiered capital grants for Suffolk SMEs investing in digital transformation and technology adoption, innovation and R&D, or decarbonisation and sustainability — micro businesses (under 10 employees) can receive £2,500-£10,000 covering 50% of project cost, small businesses (10-49 employees) £5,000-£50,000 covering 30%, and medium businesses (50-249 employees) £10,000-£100,000 covering 20%. Delivered by Suffolk County Council via the Suffolk Business Board and the New Anglia Growth Hub, with the programme confirmed to run until 31 March 2027.
Welsh Government / Rural Payments Wales
Wales' primary farm support scheme, replacing the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) as the main source of Welsh farm funding, which launched on 1 January 2026. Structured in three layers: the Universal Layer (mandatory for participants, 12 actions covering soil health, pest management, hedgerow/woodland management, animal health and welfare, and more — intended to fund at the same overall level as BPS for 2026) is the layer currently live; the voluntary Optional Layer (14 themed groups of targeted actions) and Collaborative Layer (landscape-scale coordinated action) are being phased in later in 2026 and into 2027, with their detailed payment rates published alongside each layer's application process. BPS itself continues on a tapering basis through 2029 for anyone not yet fully transitioned onto SFS, and SFS eligibility does not depend on retaining BPS entitlements.
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission's main grant for creating new woodland in England — farming-adjacent but distinct from Countryside Stewardship and Landscape Recovery, which fund land management rather than tree planting specifically. Pays standard capital establishment costs of up to £10,200 per hectare, plus stackable additional contributions for wider public benefits (e.g. up to £3,300/ha for nature recovery, up to £3,700/ha for recreational access, £2,500/ha for riparian buffers, £1,000/ha for flood risk management, £500/ha for water quality, up to £600/ha for woodland near settlements, and £1,100/ha on land assessed as low sensitivity for woodland creation), plus £400 per hectare per year in maintenance payments for 15 years. Runs on a rolling basis with no fixed application deadline, though applying by 31 May is recommended to secure funding in time for the following planting season.
Bradford Council
Small discretionary grants of up to £500, decided by local Area Co-ordinators, for non-profit voluntary groups and organisations that operate in or benefit a specific Bradford constituency. Normally limited to one grant per organisation per financial year, with no retrospective funding and no support for religious, political, or school curricular activity. Groups working with children or vulnerable adults need a safeguarding policy and DBS evidence in place before applying.
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)
A new (2026) capital grant scheme for on-farm equipment and technology in Northern Ireland, delivered under DAERA's Sustainable Agriculture Programme as the replacement for the now-closed Farm Business Improvement Scheme - Capital (FBIS-C). Backed by a £40 million total budget to be rolled out across several rounds over the next 3-4 years, the first round offers 40% grant support (up to £25,000 per business) on approved equipment and technology investments that improve environmental performance, nutrient efficiency, and on-farm productivity.
Pembrokeshire County Council
Community grant fund from Pembrokeshire County Council, financed by the council's second-homes council tax premium, supporting constituted community groups, charities, social enterprises, and Town and Community Councils with projects that benefit communities affected by high levels of second-home ownership.
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea's discretionary welfare scheme, branded Local Support Payments (LSP) and funded through the Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — providing short-term help to residents facing a financial crisis or emergency. Covers essential one-off needs mainly via vouchers rather than cash — furniture and appliances for moving into or maintaining a home, supermarket vouchers for food and essentials, and fuel costs in exceptional circumstances only — but excludes debts, rent, council tax, ongoing costs, electronics, and holidays.
Lambeth Council
A local top-up on top of the mandatory Disabled Facilities Grant (capped nationally at £30,000) for Lambeth residents whose assessed, reasonable cost of disability-related structural home adaptations exceeds that cap. Considered in exceptional cases only by a review panel drawn from Housing, Regeneration and Environment, and Adult and Community Services — distinct from, and additional to, the national mandatory scheme already covered elsewhere in this directory.
London Borough of Lewisham
Lewisham's Crisis and Resilience Fund — the council's replacement for the Household Support Fund, which ended nationally on 31 March 2026 — Housing Payment strand, for residents already receiving Housing Benefit or the housing costs element of Universal Credit who need extra help with rent. As of the September 2026 recheck, the general (non-housing) Crisis Payment strand has also since gone live — see the separate 'Crisis and Resilience Fund – Crisis Payment (Lewisham)' entry.
Buckinghamshire Council (delivered by the National Energy Foundation)
Fully funded energy-saving upgrades — insulation, low-carbon heating (including air source heat pumps), solar PV, and smart heating controls — for eligible Buckinghamshire residents, delivered by the National Energy Foundation under the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, with £3,023,682 allocated to the council over three years from 2025.
Darlington Borough Council (Tees Valley consortium, delivered by Eon)
Free home energy-efficiency improvements — insulation, solar panels, and heat pumps — for lower-income households in Darlington, Middlesbrough, and Redcar & Cleveland, delivered through a four-council Tees Valley consortium (Darlington, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland, and Stockton-on-Tees) that secured over £13.9m from the national Warm Homes: Local Grant to help around 700 households over three years. Applications are handled by the appointed contractor, Eon.
Central Bedfordshire Council
Central Bedfordshire Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended 31 March 2026, with £2.625m allocated for 2026/27 (including funding ring-fenced for Housing Payments). Covers essential costs such as food, energy and utility bills (including heating oil), basic household items, and essential transport costs; a first phase supporting heating-oil costs launched ahead of the wider scheme.
Cumberland Council
A Cumberland Council scheme, delivered through the Crisis and Resilience Fund and launched 2 April 2026, providing a one-off £400 payment to households facing hardship from rising heating oil prices. The council expects the allocation to support around 900 households.
Hartlepool Borough Council
Hartlepool Borough Council's standalone Warm Homes: Local Grant scheme, funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, offering free energy-efficiency improvements — solar panels and battery storage, loft/cavity/solid wall insulation, double glazing (replacing single glazing), smart heating controls, air source heat pumps, and high-retention storage heaters — to eligible households. High demand means not all applications succeed.
Middlesbrough Council
Middlesbrough Council's Crisis and Resilience Fund, running 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029 and replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments, providing around £4m a year to support households across Middlesbrough. Beyond crisis payments (no set amount — assessed individually), the fund covers help with housing costs, school uniform grants, support for families in temporary accommodation, assistance for residents experiencing domestic abuse, targeted help for residents living with terminal illness, and support for armed forces veterans. Residents who received a Household Support Fund payment before April 2026 may be eligible for a one-off CRF payment.
Cambridgeshire Energy Retrofit Partnership (led by Cambridge City Council)
The national Warm Homes: Local Grant (worth up to £15,000 per home, covering loft/cavity wall insulation, solar panels, air source heat pumps, high heat retention storage heaters, and double/triple glazing) delivered across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough by the Cambridgeshire Energy Retrofit Partnership (CERP) — a seven-member consortium of Cambridge City Council (lead authority), Cambridgeshire County Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council, Fenland District Council, Huntingdonshire District Council, Peterborough City Council, and South Cambridgeshire District Council, with £8.5m allocated for April 2025-March 2028. Most of the partnership area applies through Action on Energy Cambridgeshire directly; Peterborough postcodes instead use two designated local installers (0800 Repair for PE1, Aran Insulation Ltd elsewhere in Peterborough).
Plymouth City Council (delivered with Plymouth Energy Community)
Plymouth City Council's standalone local delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, funded by a £3,024,995 DESNZ award to fully fund thermal and heating improvements — cavity wall and loft insulation, air source heat pumps, smart heating controls, and solar panels — for around 206 privately-owned or privately-rented homes across the city by March 2028, with an average spend of £12,400 per home. Managed locally with Plymouth Energy Community (PEC).
Portsmouth City Council
Portsmouth City Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund (all of whose schemes have now closed) with £3.7m running from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029, up from the £3.3m Household Support Fund allocation over the same period. Delivered across four strands: Crisis Payments (cash, vouchers, or essentials for unexpected financial emergencies), Housing Payments (short-term housing-cost assistance), Resilience Services (funding for organisations offering money and debt advice), and Community Coordination (support for local activities that improve access to services).
Reading Borough Council
Reading Borough Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund and mirroring the previous Discretionary Housing Payment scheme for housing-related support, with £2.3m for the first year (April 2026-March 2027) of a three-year programme to March 2029. Funds are being targeted at those most in need, including investment in more food pantries, a community banking scheme as an alternative to high-interest loans, and additional support for low-income pensioners and victims of domestic abuse.
Southampton City Council
A discretionary top-up scheme sitting alongside Southampton City Council's mandatory £30,000 Disabled Facilities Grant, funding smaller adaptations that fall outside the major-adaptations DFG process. It can top up the council's separate £1,000 minor-adaptations threshold, applying the same tenure and purpose eligibility as the mandatory DFG; where discretionary assistance exceeds £5,000, the council places a charge against the property (capped at £10,000).
Stoke-on-Trent City Council
Stoke-on-Trent City Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, backed by £16.8m of government funding (£5.6m/year) running until March 2029, replacing the Household Support Fund. Provides crisis payments based on need and support with housing cost shortfalls, alongside longer-term investment in financial advice, budgeting support, income maximisation, digital inclusion, and community support networks delivered by the council and trusted local partners.
Cumbria Chamber of Commerce (on behalf of Westmorland and Furness and Cumberland Councils)
Capital grants of £1,000-£49,999 (average award around £15,000, 65 grants to be awarded) for small and micro rural businesses across Cumbria, funded by the £10m Cumbria Capital Programme secured by the Cumbria Combined Authority and delivered by Cumbria Chamber of Commerce on behalf of Westmorland and Furness Council and Cumberland Council jointly. Supports purchase of new equipment and small-scale capital improvements to help businesses start up, grow, diversify, or innovate, with up to 80% match funding.
Eastleigh Borough Council
Eastleigh Borough Council grants of up to £1,000 for non-profit-making community groups, voluntary organisations, trusts, friendly societies, social enterprises and community interest companies with charitable objectives, prioritising projects that promote health, prosperity, the environment, or community development and involvement. Some local-area committee rounds (e.g. Hedge End, West End and Botley) run to specific windows; others (Bursledon, Hamble-le-Rice & Hound, Chandler's Ford & Hiltingbury) are open year-round.
Dacorum Borough Council (delivered in partnership with E.ON)
Dacorum Borough Council's own standalone delivery of the national Warm Homes: Local Grant, backed by £2.8m of government funding and delivered in partnership with E.ON rather than through the Better Housing Better Health consortium used by several neighbouring Hertfordshire councils. Offers a home survey and fully-funded energy-efficiency measures — insulation, air source heat pumps, smart heating controls, and solar panels — for eligible low-income homeowners, private landlords, and private renters (with landlord consent).
Dacorum Borough Council
Dacorum Borough Council grants of up to £4,000 for local groups, sports clubs, and voluntary organisations delivering projects that support the council's 'five ways to wellbeing' priorities and benefit Dacorum residents. The 2026/27 round is open for applications from 1 August to 30 September 2026, with a decision panel meeting in late October.
Blaby District Council
Blaby District Council grants for constituted community groups, youth groups, sports clubs, registered charities, social enterprises, school fundraising groups, and faith organisations, across five strands: Capital Green (eco-friendly projects, up to £5,000, 20% match funding), Large Capital (buildings/equipment, up to £5,000, 50% match funding), Small Capital (equipment/start-up costs, up to £500), Revenue (running costs/events, up to £500), and Everyone Active (health and wellbeing, up to £500).
North Kesteven District Council
North Kesteven District Council discretionary grant scheme for micro businesses, offering up to 40% of eligible costs (from £500 up to £5,000, minimum project cost £1,250) mainly for capital investment such as equipment and physical works, plus a limited set of training-related revenue costs, from a £50,000 fund assessed on a first-come-first-served basis.
Malvern Hills District Council
Malvern Hills District Council's match-funded grant scheme for micro, small, and medium-sized businesses (including CICs, social enterprises, and commercially active not-for-profits) based in the district, supporting projects such as new facilities or specialist equipment that strengthen the business and generate local economic benefit.
The Highland Council
Highland Council fund of £1 million for community groups and non-profits across rural Highland (excluding Inverness City and Badenoch & Strathspey, which are covered separately), funding community asset improvements and projects tackling inequality for children, young people and families — reflecting the scale of the sparsely populated area the council covers.
Orkney Islands Council
Orkney Islands Council capital grant, assessed by the council's Economic Development Service, covering up to 30% of eligible costs for Orkney businesses expanding in export-facing, tourism, or new-service activities.
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council
Grant fund from Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council supporting not-for-personal-profit Third Sector and Voluntary Sector organisations with projects that improve community spaces and tackle poverty across the county borough.
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
The most commonly-cited underclaimed benefit in the UK — tops up the weekly income of people over State Pension age who are on a low income, even if they have savings, a small pension, or own their home. Guarantee Credit brings weekly income up to a minimum level, while Savings Credit (only for those who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016) rewards modest retirement savings. Critically, it also acts as a 'gateway' benefit: claiming even a small amount of Pension Credit can unlock a free TV licence (over-75s), help with NHS dental/glasses/travel costs, a Council Tax Reduction, Cold Weather Payments, and Winter Fuel Payment eligibility under the post-2025 means-testing rules — several of which are covered as separate entries in this directory.
East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA)
Capital grants and loans of £15,000-£250,000 (with the core route aimed at £50,000-£250,000 projects; smaller projects can still be discussed with the Invest to Grow team) for private-sector businesses across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham, and Nottinghamshire to fund capital expenditure that will innovate, adapt, grow, or create jobs. Delivered through the East Midlands Combined County Authority's Growth Hub — the successor to the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, which was wound down when national LEP core funding ended in April 2024 — and assessed on factors including job creation, turnover growth, productivity, and sustainability/decarbonisation.
Welsh Government (delivered by Menter a Busnes)
Wales' farm business advice, training and mentoring programme, refreshed and relaunched on 1 April 2026. Offers an Advisory Service (one-to-one technical/business advice, Business and Technical Action Groups, and farm visits — mostly funded up to 80% of cost, e.g. one-to-one advice up to a maximum of £1,600 per instance and Action Groups up to £600 per group member), plus up to 3 funded or subsidised (up to 80%) training courses per farm business per year, mentoring, discussion groups, e-learning, masterclasses, and the Our Farms Network. Positioned partly as preparation for the Sustainable Farming Scheme (separate entry in this directory).
Scottish Forestry
Scottish Forestry's capital grant for creating new woodland — farming-adjacent but distinct from the land-management-focused Rural Support Plan/AECS. Pays an initial planting grant plus subsequent establishment payments (either as an annual maintenance payment over 5 years or as two capital-item instalments), with rates that vary substantially by woodland type and location — for example, roughly £1,840-£2,880/ha in standard areas (native Scots pine at the lower end, broadleaves at the upper end) and higher 'targeted area' rates of roughly £2,070-£3,240/ha, alongside a further £750/ha uplift for the first 20 hectares of new woodland UK-wide and up to a £1,750/ha uplift within the Central Scotland Green Network area. The overall 2026 woodland-creation budget was increased by 15% to £36.7 million. Applications are assessed competitively against scoring criteria rather than approved on a simple first-come basis.
Local authorities / Scottish Government
Scotland runs a more universal model than the rest of the UK: every pupil in Primary 1 to Primary 5 at a council-run or Scottish-Government-funded school gets a free school lunch every day regardless of household income, with no application needed. From Primary 6 onward (including secondary school), a free lunch is means-tested, available to households receiving Scottish Child Payment, Universal Credit (monthly earned income no more than £995), Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-based Employment and Support Allowance, or support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. Pupils at council-run or Scottish-Government-funded special schools get a free lunch regardless of age or income.
Welsh Government / local authorities
All primary school pupils in Wales (nursery to Year 6, at a maintained school) get a free school lunch every day regardless of household income — the Universal Primary Free School Meals (UPFSM) rollout completed across all 22 local authorities in September 2024. Secondary school pupils are only covered by a separate, means-tested scheme: household must receive Universal Credit with annual net household earnings of £7,400 or less, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, the guarantee element of Pension Credit, or support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999.
Wiltshire and Swindon Community Foundation
Grants of up to £2,000 for young business owners (18-30) in Wiltshire or Swindon who are trading for less than 2.5 years, turning over at least £500/month, and from a low-income household or otherwise facing barriers to growth. Run by the Wiltshire and Swindon Community Foundation's Somerset, Wiltshire and Swindon Enterprise Fund (SWEF) partnership, funds are paid directly into the business bank account and must be spent (on expansion, equipment, or other growth costs) within one month of receipt.
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) / Rural Payments Agency
England's flagship Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme and the main successor to the old EU Basic Payment Scheme, paying farmers annually for actions that support sustainable food production and environmental outcomes — soil health, hedgerows, integrated pest management, low-input grassland, and more. The 2026 offer (SFI26) reopened with 71 of the previous 102 actions available (some rates cut, e.g. Herbal Leys CSAM3 from £382/ha to £224/ha; some upland rates increased, e.g. Moderate Livestock Grazing on Moorland UPL1 from £20/ha to £35/ha), a maximum agreement value of £100,000 per business per year, one SFI26 agreement per farm business (SBI), and no more 5-year actions or a flat management payment. Window 1 opened 30 June 2026 for smaller farms (7.4-124 acres) and those without an existing ELM agreement; window 2 opens in September 2026 for all other eligible farms.
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)
Northern Ireland's replacement for the EU Basic Payment Scheme: an annual direct area payment to active farm businesses, phased in via the Farm Sustainability Transition Payment (2025) before the full Farm Sustainability Payment took effect from 1 January 2026. The 2026 scheme introduced a Historic Years Exercise (recalculating entitlement history), progressive capping of payments above £60,000, new land eligibility rules, and a move from EU-style cross-compliance to a domestic 'Conditionalities' framework. It sits alongside DAERA's wider Sustainable Agriculture Programme, which also funds environmental top-ups such as the Farming with Nature Transition Scheme (a separate entry in this directory).
Department for Education / local authorities
Means-tested free school lunches for pupils in government-funded schools in England, administered by individual local authorities rather than one national application. From the start of the 2026/27 academic year, every child in a household receiving Universal Credit qualifies regardless of earnings, removing the £7,400/year household-earnings cap that had applied since April 2018 for Universal Credit claimants specifically (other qualifying benefits — income-related Employment and Support Allowance, the guarantee element of Pension Credit, and support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 — were never subject to that cap). Separately, Universal Infant Free School Meals gives every child in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 at a government-funded school a free lunch regardless of household income or benefit status.
Education Authority (Department of Education Northern Ireland)
Northern Ireland's free school meals scheme is entirely means-tested, with no universal (non-income-tested) provision at any age — unlike England, Scotland and Wales, all of which give at least some year groups a free lunch regardless of income. Administered by the Education Authority rather than a single DfE-style national application. For 2026/27, a household on Universal Credit qualifies if net household earnings after tax are £15,900/year or less (up from £15,390 in 2025/26).
Social Security Scotland
Scotland's devolved, more generous replacement for the Sure Start Maternity Grant: three separate one-off payments for low-income families as a child grows, rather than England/Wales/Northern Ireland's single £500 payment. Pregnancy and Baby Payment: £796.65 for a first child, or £398.35 for each subsequent child, claimable from the 25th week of pregnancy until the baby turns 6 months old. Early Learning Payment: £331.95 per child, claimable while the child is aged between 2 and 3 years 6 months. School Age Payment: £331.95 per child, claimable during the year the child first becomes eligible to start primary school. Families can apply for all three using the same form; each is assessed and paid separately. (2026/27 rates, confirmed directly on mygov.scot in this pass.)
Department for Work and Pensions (Department for Communities in Northern Ireland)
A state-paid weekly benefit for pregnant women/people who don't qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) — typically because they're self-employed, recently stopped working, or haven't been with their current employer long enough. Pays up to £194.32 a week (2026/27) or 90% of average weekly earnings, whichever is less, for up to 39 weeks. Administered by the Department for Work and Pensions in England, Scotland and Wales, and by the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland under the same rules, rates and MA1 claim form — not a devolved replacement, just a different claim-handling body. Unlike SMP, Maternity Allowance is tax-free, but it does count as income for means-tested benefits such as Universal Credit, Council Tax Reduction and Housing Benefit.
TV Licensing (on behalf of the BBC)
A free TV licence for households where the licence-holder is 75 or over and either they or their partner at the same address receive Pension Credit (either Guarantee Credit or Savings Credit, or both) — worth £180/year, the current standard colour TV licence fee from 1 April 2026. Since the universal over-75s free licence ended on 31 July 2020, age alone no longer qualifies; Pension Credit receipt is required. One free licence covers everyone living at the same main address regardless of their own age, but only one per address even if more than one resident independently qualifies. Administered centrally and identically across all four UK nations by TV Licensing (on behalf of the BBC), with the underlying Pension Credit eligibility determined by DWP in England, Scotland and Wales and by the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland.
Scottish Enterprise
Status refresh (August 2026): SMART: SCOTLAND is confirmed on hold — Scottish Enterprise's own page is titled 'SMART: SCOTLAND grants - on hold' and states it is not currently accepting new applications, with a replacement fund due to launch in late autumn 2026. While it was live, it funded Scottish SMEs (up to 249 employees) to carry out either a technical feasibility study or a full R&D project developing an innovative new product or service, covering up to 70% of eligible costs for small enterprises or up to 60% for medium enterprises. Feasibility studies could receive up to £100,000 over 6–18 months; details of the successor fund's amounts and scope have not yet been published.
Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)
An environmental grant of up to £20,000 per year (no minimum application value) for Northern Ireland farm businesses to carry out practical nature-friendly actions — arable field margins, herbal leys, hedgerow and riparian buffer management among them. Delivered under DAERA's Sustainable Agriculture Programme as the practical successor to the pre-2021 Environmental Farming Scheme (EFS). Following a successful Year 1, the expanded Year 2 (2026) scheme added new actions and eligibility for existing Environmental Farming Scheme agreement holders, but its application window (30 June-31 July 2026) has now closed — this entry is included so it is visible ahead of the next expected window rather than because it can be applied to today.
St Albans City and District Council
St Albans City and District Council grants of £200-£2,000 for community groups and charities running time-limited projects in the District, with around £45,000 available in the first round of 2026/27 for projects delivered between September 2026 and March 2027. Sits alongside a separate, larger Community Revenue Fund (£2,000-£10,000) for established organisations' ongoing running costs.
North Yorkshire Council
North Yorkshire Council's overarching Crisis and Resilience Fund programme, replacing the Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments from 1 April 2026 for a three-year scheme to 31 March 2029. Brings together Housing Payments (replacing Discretionary Housing Payments), Crisis Payments (delivered through the pre-existing North Yorkshire Local Assistance Fund — see separate entry), and Fuel Support (delivered by Citizens Advice North Yorkshire's Warm & Well service, including £1,061,623 of additional one-off 2026/27 funding for off-gas-grid households using LPG or heating oil). At research time the council's own page stated it was 'currently designing the full Crisis and Resilience Fund programme for North Yorkshire' — the overarching programme is not yet fully live even though its component parts (NYLAF, Warm & Well, Housing Payments) are each individually operating already.
Bedford Borough Council
Bedford Borough Council's planned local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund which ended nationally 31 March 2026, with £2.5m allocated for 2026/27 to cover Crisis Payments, Housing Payments, Resilience Services, and Community Coordination over a scheme running to 31 March 2029. The council's own page still described the scheme as aiming to start 'by June 2026' at research time, with other coverage suggesting the scheme had still not been finalised as of July 2026 — genuinely unclear whether it has fully launched.
Merton Council
Merton Council's grant fund for community-led projects addressing the demands new development places on neighbourhoods, financed through the Community Infrastructure Levy (previously branded the Neighbourhood Fund). Open to constituted community/voluntary organisations and individual residents with an idea the council can deliver; past awards range from a few thousand pounds (e.g. £4,500 for station-area improvements) to tens of thousands (e.g. £75,000 for a playground upgrade).
Wirral Council
A planned community-grants strand of Wirral's new Crisis and Resilience Fund, co-produced with Wirral CVS and voluntary-sector partners, intended to invest up to £1 million a year in community-led activity across the borough. As of the August 2026 research date the programme had been designed and approved in principle by Wirral Council's Policy and Resources Committee but had not yet opened for applications — guidance and webinars were still to be announced.
East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA)
A new £8.1m Business Investment Fund strand within the East Midlands Combined County Authority's £107m Local Growth Fund investment plan — EMCCA's share of the national Local Growth Fund that replaced the UK Shared Prosperity Fund from April 2026. Planned to offer two grant types: a Business Growth and Productivity Grant (machinery, equipment, technology, innovation, and expansion projects) and a Business Energy Saving Grant (energy efficiency and lower-carbon technology), expected to support around 500 businesses and unlock a further £19m of private investment. EMCCA's own announcement describes the fund as expected to launch 'later in 2026' via the existing Growth Hub application channels, but as of this check no application portal, fixed grant amounts, or firm opening date had been published. Distinct from the separate, already-live 'Invest to Grow' capital grants/loans programme covered elsewhere in this directory, which is unaffected and continues to operate.
North Lincolnshire Council
North Lincolnshire Council's local Crisis and Resilience Fund, replacing the Household Support Fund from 1 April 2026, intended to offer both direct financial help and a wider support package to help residents manage money and avoid future crises. At research time the council's own page stated general crisis payments were 'not currently available' pending further design work, with more details expected later in 2026 — though a heating-oil support strand under the same CRF allocation was already live (see the separate Heating Oil Support entry).
Oxford City Council
Oxford City Council's Small Grants strand of its wider Oxford Community Impact Fund (worth almost £1m a year), offering up to £3,000 per project to community groups and non-profit organisations working to reduce inequality in Oxford — one of the UK's most unequal cities. Replaced several older, narrower funding programmes (including the former Culture Fund, Green Neighbourhood Scheme, and Youth Ambition Fund) with this single consolidated fund, run across periodic application rounds through the year.
Adur & Worthing Councils
A newly streamlined community grant fund from Adur & Worthing Councils, consolidating four previously separate schemes — the Adur Community Grant, Community Transport Grant, Worthing Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Neighbourhood Fund, and Adur textile recycling income — into a single application process for voluntary, community, and social enterprise (VCSE) groups. Around £115,000 is available to bid for across Adur and Worthing this year, assessed against local need, community benefit, inclusion, prevention, connection, and lasting impact.
Tower Hamlets Council
Tower Hamlets's flagship small-grants programme for the voluntary and community sector, allocating £800,000/year through March 2027 across five themes: Community Events (£100,000/yr, up to £2,500/award), Capacity Building (£100,000/yr, up to £2,500/award), Community Chest (£100,000/yr, up to £1,000/award), Positive Activities for Young People (£250,000/yr, up to £6,000/award), and the Youth Empowerment Fund (£250,000/yr, up to £3,500/award).
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) / Natural England
The most ambitious tier of England's Environmental Land Management offer, funding large-scale (minimum 500 hectares, though usually delivered by a partnership of landowners rather than one farm), long-term (20-30 year) land-use change projects — rewilding, wetland and woodland creation, and river restoration — with development-phase grants of up to £750,000 and implementation funding typically in the range of £200-£900 per hectare per year once a project reaches delivery. As of August 2026, no round is currently open to new applicants: round 2 closed for applications in September 2023, and while Defra approved 34 second-wave projects (with the first moving into delivery in August 2025, representing over £55 million of investment) and has signalled further rounds during 2026, a confirmed opening date for round 3 has not yet been published. Included here so it is visible ahead of a future round, not because a business can apply to it right now.
Liverpool City Council (DESNZ-funded)
DESNZ-funded, Liverpool-administered grant covering insulation (loft/wall/floor), solar panels, heat pumps, smart heating controls, and windows/doors/heating upgrades for owner-occupiers and private renters in EPC D–G homes. As of the August 2026 research check, this scheme is closed to new applicants — year 2 (1 April 2026–31 March 2027) is oversubscribed, with year 3 registration not opening until 1 April 2027. Included here so it's visible ahead of that reopening, not because it can be applied to right now.
Newcastle City Council
Upcoming Newcastle City Council grant scheme to refurbish, repair, and improve community spaces/buildings used by residents, with projects in the most disadvantaged 20% of areas particularly welcomed. As of the August 2026 research check this was still at the Expression of Interest stage ahead of a stated 'summer 2026' full launch — it may have fully launched with updated terms by the time you read this, or could have slipped; re-verify before relying on the details here.
Nottingham City Council
Grants to local voluntary/community organisations, charities, and grassroots groups in Nottingham for projects that help residents in financial hardship, prevent others falling into hardship, and strengthen community support networks — a sub-scheme of Nottingham's wider Crisis and Resilience Fund. Opens for six-week application windows roughly every six months from May 2026 to July 2028. As of the August 2026 research check the most recent window had closed and the next was expected around November 2026 but not yet confirmed — check before applying.
West Devon Borough Council
West Devon Borough Council grants of £500 up to £25,000 for one-off capital costs — permanent items, refurbishments, or structural improvements — at community halls and similar facilities across the West Devon area. Part of the council's 'Empowering Communities' package of grant funds launched alongside the Community Arts and Activities Fund.
Borough of Broxbourne Council
Borough of Broxbourne Council support for local not-for-profit organisations working for a 'local good cause' benefiting Broxbourne residents, made up of three subsidy types — non-domestic rate (business rates) relief, facility hire subsidies, and notional rental discounts for tenants of council property — plus separate cash grants of up to £500 funded by the Broxbourne Lottery Scheme. Not open to individuals or commercial businesses.
Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council (Local Economic Partnership)
Capital grants for established micro and small businesses and social enterprises in Causeway Coast and Glens to invest in new equipment, machinery, or capital infrastructure, delivered by the council's Local Economic Partnership and funded via the Department for the Economy's Sub-Regional Economic Plan.
Exeter City Council
Exeter City Council's core community grants programme, offering one-off grants of up to £2,500 from an annual budget of £60,000 towards events, festivals, projects that encourage community participation, or one-off equipment purchases and repairs. Awards prioritise projects in 11 designated Priority Neighbourhoods (Exwick, Redhills, St Thomas, St David's, City Centre, Newtown, Mincinglake, Beacon Heath, Whipton, Wonford and Countess Wear), run in two rounds a year.
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) / Rural Payments Agency
England's umbrella capital grant fund for farm equipment, technology and infrastructure — distinct from the environmental land management schemes (SFI26, CSHT, Landscape Recovery). FIF is split into two sub-funds: the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF, grants of £1,000-£25,000 per theme up to a combined £75,000 across Productivity, Slurry, and Animal Health and Welfare themes) and the Farming Transformation Fund (FTF, larger capital grants of roughly £15,000-£500,000 across themes that have included Water Management, Slurry Infrastructure, Adding Value, Improving Farm Productivity, and Calf/Laying Hen Housing for Health and Welfare). As of September 2026 every FIF sub-scheme round is closed to new applications — FETF 2026 (closed 12 May 2026) was confirmed as the final standalone FETF round in its current form, with Defra signalling it intends to bring the strongest elements of its grant schemes together from 2027 to simplify the application process, though no confirmed date or detailed structure for that relaunch has been published.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority / Manchester City Council
Substantially updated in an August 2026 re-check: the scheme's delivery has moved from a Manchester City Council-run page to a Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA)-wide 'Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG)' programme covering all 10 GM boroughs, with a higher combined funding cap than previously recorded here. The old officialUrl (manchester.gov.uk's energy-efficiency page) now 404s and its August-2025-dated replacement no longer lists this scheme at all. More significantly, on the GMCA page's own borough-by-borough delivery table, Manchester's delivery organisation is listed as 'To be appointed' and its contact as 'To be confirmed' — unlike Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan, which already have a named delivery organisation and contact. In practice this means the scheme is not yet operationally live for Manchester residents specifically, even though it exists and is running elsewhere in Greater Manchester. Kept here as UPCOMING rather than removed, since it is clearly imminent, not cancelled.
Bradford Council
Bradford's replacement for the Household Support Fund, running for three years to March 2029 with a £12.7m/year district allocation. As of the September 2026 research check, direct Crisis Payment applications had still not yet opened — the council's own page continues to state they'll open 'later in 2026'.
Scottish Government / Rural Payments and Services
Scotland's capital grant scheme for farm business investment, helping active farmers and crofters improve business efficiency, environmental performance, and resilience to climate change — funding items such as improving soil quality, creating hedgerows, and upgrading livestock management infrastructure. Round 1 ran 14 July-22 August 2025 and is now closed; a second round is confirmed to open from winter 2026, with at least 725 farming and crofting businesses expected to share an indicative £14.25 million budget. Enhanced support rates are planned for new entrants to farming (up to 80% of eligible costs) and Highlands and Islands-based businesses (up to 60%), alongside standard rates for other applicants.
Newcastle City Council
Newcastle City Council's core grant programme for not-for-profit organisations — voluntary/community groups, registered charities, and social enterprises — delivering projects that build community connection and improve health and wellbeing. Funds both specific projects and core running costs. Confirmed in an August 2026 re-check that Round 17 had a deadline of 10am, 23 July 2026, which has now passed with no next round yet advertised on the council's own page — the fund appears to be between rounds; re-verify the current round and deadline before applying.
Innovate UK (UKRI)
Status refresh (August 2026): Innovate UK's own Smart Grants guidance confirms the programme has been paused since January 2025 'to develop tailored support', with a pilot originally expected in spring 2025 — as of this pass there is no confirmed relaunch date, and secondary reporting on a 2026 reopening is conflicting. While live, it backed ambitious, genuinely disruptive R&D projects rather than incremental improvements — any UK-registered business, of any size and in any sector, could lead an application alone or with partners, typically via a feasibility stream (roughly £25,000–£100,000) or a full industrial research/experimental development stream (up to £500,000 for a single applicant, up to £2 million for a collaborative project).
Invest Northern Ireland (delivered with Innovate NI)
Updated August 2026: the voucher value is now up to £10,000 (previously recorded as £5,000), paid directly to an approved university or college "Knowledge Provider" in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, so a Northern Ireland business or aspiring entrepreneur can access expert help on an innovation project. As of this pass, the application call is closed with no open window. Distinct from the Business Innovation Grant (BIG) also listed in this directory under Invest NI Innovation Grant, since the funding is paid to the Knowledge Provider on the business's behalf rather than directly to the business.
HM Revenue & Customs
Adds an extra £3,250 tax-free (2026/27) on top of your standard Personal Allowance if you're registered blind or severely sight impaired. Registration routes differ slightly by nation — England and Wales use blind or severely sight impaired registration, while Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own separate registration processes — but the allowance itself is claimed the same way, by telling HMRC directly.
HM Revenue & Customs
Lets you receive £500 of dividend income tax-free each year before dividend tax starts to apply — useful if you hold shares directly or run a limited company and pay yourself via dividends. This allowance has been cut sharply in recent years, down from £2,000 and even £5,000 in earlier years, so it's worth less than it used to be.
HM Revenue & Customs
The amount of profit you can make from selling assets like shares or property each year before Capital Gains Tax is due — currently £3,000 for individuals and £1,500 for most trusts. Like the Dividend Allowance, this has shrunk considerably in recent years, down from £12,300 in 2022/23, so gains that would once have been tax-free may now trigger a bill.
HM Revenue & Customs
Lets a charity reclaim an extra 25p for every £1 you donate, at no extra cost to you, simply by you signing a Gift Aid declaration. If you're a higher or additional rate taxpayer, you can also personally claim back the difference between basic rate and your own tax rate via Self Assessment — a saving basic rate taxpayers don't get, since the charity already reclaims the basic rate portion.
HM Revenue & Customs
Lets you earn up to £7,500 a year tax-free from letting out furnished accommodation in your own home — for example a spare room to a lodger. If someone else also receives income from letting the same property (a partner, for instance), the allowance is halved to £3,750 each rather than doubled.
HM Revenue & Customs
Lets you earn interest on savings tax-free before Income Tax kicks in, with the amount depending on which tax band you're in: £1,000 for basic rate taxpayers, £500 for higher rate taxpayers, and nothing at all for additional rate taxpayers. It's applied automatically by HMRC through your tax code or Self Assessment, so there's no separate claim to make.
HM Revenue & Customs (Childcare Choices)
HMRC tops up money you pay into a dedicated childcare account by £2 for every £8 you put in, worth up to £2,000 a year per child (or £4,000 if your child is disabled). Each parent needs to be earning at least the National Living Wage for around 16 hours a week, but under £100,000 a year — it's a separate scheme from the 30 Hours Free Childcare entitlement and can be used alongside it.
HM Revenue & Customs
Gives companies carrying out qualifying R&D a 20% taxable credit against their spend, claimed through their Corporation Tax return. This merged scheme replaced the previously separate SME R&D relief and RDEC schemes for accounting periods starting on or after 1 April 2024, folding what used to be two different routes into one.
HM Revenue & Customs
A more generous alternative to the merged R&D scheme, aimed specifically at loss-making SMEs whose R&D spending is intensive — qualifying R&D expenditure needs to make up at least 30% of total spending. In exchange, it offers a higher payable credit, worth up to 27p per £1 of qualifying spend, on top of an additional deduction.
HM Revenue & Customs
Cuts up to £10,500 a year off an eligible small employer's Class 1 National Insurance bill, claimed automatically through payroll software rather than as a separate application. The allowance was increased from £5,000 in April 2025, and the previous £100,000 prior-year employer NI eligibility cap that shut out slightly larger employers was removed at the same time.
HM Revenue & Customs
Gives employees £6 a week (£312 a year) in tax relief without needing to keep receipts, but only if your employer actually requires you to work from home — simply being allowed to or choosing to isn't enough. The rules tightened after the pandemic, so it's worth double-checking you meet the stricter current criteria before claiming.
HM Revenue & Customs
A distinct, much older allowance from Marriage Allowance, this reduces the tax bill for married couples or civil partners by between £436 and £1,127 a year (2026/27), depending on income. It's only available where at least one partner was born before 6 April 1935 — an increasingly narrow, very elderly group of claimants (at least one partner must now be 91 or over) — so most couples should look at Marriage Allowance instead.
HM Revenue & Customs
Cuts the effective Corporation Tax rate to 10% on profits earned from patented inventions and certain other qualifying intellectual property, well below the standard rate. To qualify, your company needs to own or hold an exclusive licence for the qualifying patents and to have carried out genuine development work on them, not simply bought them in.
HM Revenue & Customs
Covers the first £1,000 a year of trading, casual, or miscellaneous income tax-free, and if you stay under that you don't even need to register for Self Assessment for that income. You can't combine it with claiming your actual expenses against the same income, though — it's one or the other, so it suits people with very low costs more than those with significant outgoings.
Local councils (England) — multiplier set by central government
The temporary, application-style discount this listing used to describe (40% off in 2025/26, capped at £110,000 per business) has been abolished. From 1 April 2026 it has been replaced by a permanent, structurally lower business rates multiplier for qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties in England with a rateable value under £500,000, rather than a discount applied on top of the standard bill. You cannot make a new claim for the old-style RHL relief — the lower rate is now baked into how the bill is calculated in the first place.
HM Revenue & Customs
Lets a business deduct the full cost of qualifying plant and machinery — up to £1 million a year — from taxable profits in the year it's bought, rather than spreading the relief out over several years. Available to sole traders, partnerships, and companies alike, though some rules apply where connected businesses share the same allowance.
Local councils (England)
Can wipe out business rates entirely for small properties in England — 100% relief up to a £12,000 rateable value, tapering down to nothing by £15,000. It generally only applies to one property per business, and many councils apply it automatically if you're eligible, though it's worth contacting them directly if it hasn't appeared on your bill.
HM Revenue & Customs
Lets qualifying SMEs — companies with gross assets under £30 million carrying out a qualifying trade — grant tax-advantaged share options worth up to £250,000 per employee (with a £3 million company-wide limit) as a way of rewarding and retaining key staff. When the options are exercised, Capital Gains Tax on the gain can be as low as 10% via Business Asset Disposal Relief, rather than standard CGT rates.
HM Revenue & Customs
Scheme letting employees donate to charity straight from their gross pay, before Income Tax is deducted, via their employer's payroll — giving automatic tax relief at their marginal rate with nothing to claim back separately.
HM Revenue & Customs
HMRC-clarified rule (updated 2024) letting self-employed people deduct the cost of training that updates existing skills/knowledge or adds new skills/knowledge relevant to their existing trade as a business expense — reversing HMRC's older, stricter position that 'new skills' training was non-deductible capital expenditure.
HM Revenue & Customs
Covers the first £1,000 a year of property income tax-free — useful for smaller-scale letting like renting out a driveway, garage, or a patch of land, rather than a full tenancy. It can't be combined with claiming your actual expenses on the same income, and can't be used alongside the Rent a Room Scheme for the same property.
HM Revenue & Customs
Enhanced Corporation Tax deduction — 150% of qualifying costs — for companies that clean up land or buildings acquired from a third party in a contaminated or long-term derelict state, to encourage brownfield redevelopment over greenfield sites. A 'polluter pays' rule means a company can't claim for contamination it caused itself. Loss-making companies can instead surrender the loss for a cash payable credit worth 16% of the qualifying loss; claim via your Corporation Tax return (CT600) for the period the remediation costs are incurred.
HM Revenue & Customs
Tax-free (and tax-relievable, if unreimbursed) benchmark scale rates for meals bought by mobile or travelling employees while away from their normal workplace on a qualifying business journey, claimable without keeping receipts. Site-based workers without a permanent workplace (e.g. construction workers, lorry drivers) may qualify more routinely since most of their travel counts as business travel.
HM Revenue & Customs
Gives video games studios a 34% expenditure credit on qualifying UK development costs, claimed through the Corporation Tax return alongside a British Film Institute cultural test certificate confirming the game counts as culturally British. It replaced the older Video Games Tax Relief for new productions from 1 April 2025, following the same shift to expenditure credits seen across the other creative industry reliefs.
HM Revenue & Customs
Zero-rates VAT (a 20% saving) on goods and services designed or adapted for a disabled person's personal or domestic use — e.g. wheelchairs, mobility scooters, hearing aids, adjustable beds, home adaptations like stairlifts/ramps/grab rails, and the installation/repair/maintenance of qualifying goods.
HM Revenue & Customs
Tax relief for employees who use their own car, van, motorcycle, or bike for business travel and are reimbursed less than HMRC's approved mileage rate (or not reimbursed at all). The self-employed can use the same pence-per-mile rates via 'simplified expenses' as an alternative to claiming actual vehicle running costs.
Land & Property Services (LPS), Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland's version of small business rates relief works differently from the rest of the UK, using Net Annual Value (NAV) bands rather than rateable value, with relief tiered between 20% and 50% depending on which band your property falls into. It's typically applied automatically by Land & Property Services based on your property's NAV, so there's usually nothing you need to actively claim.
HM Revenue & Customs
Encourages individuals to back genuinely early-stage, high-risk UK start-ups by offering 50% Income Tax relief on investments up to £200,000 a year, plus a Capital Gains Tax exemption on any gains. The relief applies to the investor rather than the company, but the company being invested in has to meet its own conditions — broadly, gross assets under £350,000 and less than 3 years old.
HM Revenue & Customs
The bigger sibling to SEIS — offers individual investors 30% Income Tax relief on investments in qualifying higher-risk UK small and medium-sized companies, up to £1 million a year (or £2 million for knowledge-intensive companies), plus the ability to defer Capital Gains Tax on other gains by reinvesting them through EIS.
HM Revenue & Customs
Lets an employer pay 0% National Insurance on a qualifying veteran's earnings, up to the Upper Secondary Threshold, for their first 12 months of civilian employment — a direct cost saving designed to encourage hiring ex-forces personnel. The veteran needs to have completed at least one day of basic training in the UK regular armed forces, and this must be their first civilian job since leaving; the relief can even be claimed retrospectively through payroll.
HM Revenue & Customs
Tax relief for employees who have to buy more substantial or expensive equipment for their job than the 'small tools' covered by the flat-rate uniform/tools expense — claimed as a capital allowance on the cost rather than a flat rate.
HM Revenue & Customs
Optional simplified VAT accounting scheme for small businesses: instead of reclaiming VAT on every purchase, you pay a fixed percentage of VAT-inclusive turnover to HMRC, reducing admin burden and, for some low-cost-input businesses, the net VAT paid.
HM Revenue & Customs
Gives theatre production companies a Corporation Tax expenditure credit worth 45% of qualifying costs for touring productions, or 40% for non-touring ones. The production has to meet EEA expenditure and cultural conditions and your company must be responsible for producing, running, and closing it — productions that are mainly promotional, competitive, or commercial (like advertising or sporting events) don't qualify.
HM Revenue & Customs
Corporation Tax expenditure credit for UK film, high-end TV, children's TV, and animation production costs, replacing the separate Film Tax Relief, High-End TV Tax Relief, Animation Tax Relief, and Children's TV Tax Relief for new productions. Since 1 April 2025, qualifying independent films with budgets up to £15 million can opt in to an enhanced rate — the Independent Film Tax Credit (IFTC) — worth 53% rather than the standard 34%.
HM Revenue & Customs
Permanent 100% first-year Corporation Tax capital allowance letting companies deduct the full cost of qualifying new plant and machinery from taxable profits in the year of purchase, rather than spreading relief over several years. Successor to the temporary 130% 'super-deduction' that ran April 2021–March 2023.
HM Revenue & Customs
Lets a lower-earning spouse or civil partner transfer up to £1,260 of their unused Personal Allowance to a partner who's a basic rate taxpayer, worth up to £252 a year off the couple's combined tax bill. You need to be married or in a civil partnership, with one of you earning below the Personal Allowance — and if you've missed out in previous years, you can backdate a claim up to 4 tax years.
HM Revenue & Customs
The 'uniform tax rebate' — a flat-rate tax deduction for employees who personally pay to clean, repair, or replace a uniform, protective clothing, or small tools needed for their job, claimable without keeping receipts. The exact amount depends on your occupation/industry.
HM Revenue & Customs
Gives a Corporation Tax expenditure credit worth 45% of qualifying costs to companies producing orchestral concerts — the same rate applies whether the concert tours or not. The concert needs to involve a minimum number of instruments and performers as defined by HMRC, and can't be primarily a recording session rather than a live performance.
Local councils (Scotland)
Scotland's own business rates relief for small properties, running on different thresholds from the equivalent England scheme. For a single property, 100% relief applies up to a £12,000 rateable value, tapering down to 25% at £15,000 and to 0% at £20,000. Ratepayers with multiple properties get a different taper: 100% relief where combined rateable value is up to £12,000, 25% relief on individual properties valued at £15,000 or less, and a taper to 0% for individual properties between £15,001 and £20,000, provided the combined rateable value of all properties doesn't exceed £35,000.
Welsh Government / local authorities
Wales runs its own version of business rates relief for small properties, with lower thresholds than England or Scotland — 100% relief up to a £6,000 rateable value, tapering to nothing by £12,000. Retail, hospitality, and leisure properties in Wales may also qualify for a separate, additional relief scheme on top of this one.
HM Revenue & Customs
Gives charitable museums, galleries, and their subsidiaries a Corporation Tax expenditure credit worth 45% of qualifying costs for touring exhibitions, or 40% for non-touring ones. It's restricted to charitable companies, wholly-owned subsidiaries of a charity, or companies owned by a local authority that runs a museum or gallery — it's not available to commercial exhibition organisers.
HM Revenue & Customs
Capital allowance letting businesses write off the cost of constructing, renovating, or converting non-residential structures and buildings at a flat 3% a year, spreading the full deduction over 33⅓ years rather than claiming it all at once. An enhanced 10% rate (a 10-year write-off) applies to qualifying expenditure in Freeport and Investment Zone tax sites. Available to businesses paying Income Tax or Corporation Tax on construction contracts entered into on or after 29 October 2018, but doesn't cover land cost or residential/dwelling use.
Revenue Scotland
Scotland's equivalent of first-time buyers' stamp duty relief: it lifts the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax nil-rate threshold from the standard £145,000 to £175,000, relieving up to £600 of tax. Unlike the England and Northern Ireland version there's no upper purchase price at which it disappears — buy above £175,000 and you still get the benefit of the raised threshold on the portion below it. Almost 105,000 first-time buyers had used it by the end of November 2025, and the Scottish Budget 2026-27 confirmed both the relief and the underlying rates and bands continue unchanged.
HM Revenue & Customs
Businesses with taxable turnover below the VAT registration threshold do not have to register for or charge VAT — a simplicity and, for consumer-facing businesses, potential pricing advantage for small businesses.
HM Revenue & Customs
Tax relief on professional membership fees or annual subscriptions you personally pay to an HMRC-approved professional body or learned society on HMRC's 'List 3', where membership is relevant to your job. Relief is given at your marginal Income Tax rate — a basic-rate taxpayer effectively saves 20% of the cost, a higher-rate taxpayer 40% — with no fixed cap, though lifetime membership fees don't qualify and the fee must be paid by you rather than reimbursed by your employer. Claim online via the gov.uk P87 service, through Self Assessment, or by post.
HM Revenue & Customs
Takes first-time buyers in England and Northern Ireland out of Stamp Duty entirely on the first £300,000 of a purchase, then charges 5% on anything between £300,001 and £500,000 — worth up to £6,250 against the standard rates. It's an all-or-nothing relief: if the price goes even slightly over £500,000 you can't claim it at all and pay the normal residential rates on the whole purchase. Everyone buying together has to be a first-time buyer, so buying with someone who has owned before loses the relief for both of you.