Islington Hardship Fund

The Islington Hardship Fund is designed to help people who are working and need help to pay their rent and are not currently getting Housing Benefit or Universal Credit.

Funding for this scheme is limited, so there will be only one award per household. Awards will go to those who meet the eligibility criteria on a first come, first served basis.

Eligibility

To be considered for help you must:

• live in Islington as your main and permanent address
• pay rent
• not get Housing Benefit or Universal Credit
• be in work
• have total combined household earnings of less than £50,000 gross per year
• have total combined household savings of less than £5,000
• not be in full time education
• not have already received an award of £250 from the Islington Hardship Fund.

How to apply

Read the guidance, and complete the online application to apply for the Islington Hardship Fund.

• If you cannot provide evidence as requested, we may refuse your application.
• If you do not provide full information in your application, with the correct documents, this will slow down the processing of your application and may mean you do not receive an award.
• Any award that is paid must be used for its intended purpose. Using the award for any other purposes or providing false information will result in the council looking to recover all payments made along with any additional costs and interest
• If you live with other people in the same property and have your own tenancy agreement, your application will be considered as if you are one household. If you meet the eligibility criteria, a single award will be made. If other people you share the property with also have individual tenancy agreements, they can apply too and their application will be considered the same way.
• If you live with other people in the same property and you are all named in one tenancy agreement, your application will be considered as if you are all one household. Everyone named in the tenancy agreement will need to submit the evidence outlined above in a single application. If the household meets the eligibility criteria, a single award will be given.

If you need assistance to complete the form please contact Here to Help on 0207 527 8222 or email HereToHelp@islington.gov.uk.

What happens after you apply

• We will assess any submitted applications during office hours, Monday to Friday.
• We will decide if you are eligible based on your application, evidence and circumstances.
• We will let you know our decision by email or post.
• If you are successful, we will make a payment to your bank account by bank transfer.
• Successful applications will receive a one-off payment of £250.

Learn more about how we use your data, read our privacy notice.

When the fund will close

The Islington Hardship Fund has limited funding. When we reach this limit, we will close the fund.

The application period will close on Friday 30 June, 2023.

We will close the scheme early if we receive enough applications to spend the full amount of funding.

We will process applications in the order they are received.

We will refer you to other local support and advice services if we think it will help you.

Evidence you will need to provide

You will need to provide proof of the rent that you pay – either a tenancy agreement or a letter from the person you pay rent to.

You will need to provide proof of your savings for every member of your household, the most recent bank statement, or a full list of the last month of transactions and balance.

You will need to provide proof of your earnings and for every member of your household who is working – the most recent payslip or P60 (or, if you are self-employed, your most recent accounts).

Missing information

We will contact you by email to tell you what information is missing from your application.

If you do not provide full information in your application, with the correct documents, this will slow down the processing of your application and may mean you do not receive an award.

Problems uploading documents

If you have any problems uploading documents, you can email documents to us at FrontOffice.Housing@islington.gov.uk. Please make sure you use the subject 'Hardship Fund' so that we can prioritise your email. Or can also visit us at 222 Upper Street where someone will be able to assist you to scan your documents into our system.

Start your application

Please answer the following question, so we can advise you whether your application might be successful. You can then apply for the Islington Hardship Fund.