Household Support Fund

You will be eligible for assistance if you:

• are aged 16 or over
• are a Kent resident, permanently living within one of the 12 local authorities covered by Kent County Council (this excludes Medway, Bexley, or Bromley)
• are in receipt of means tested benefits, or your household income is less than £40,000 per annum before tax
• do not have more than £1000 in savings
• do not receive free school meals voucher support from your child’s school over the school holidays, for any child within your household.

If you are referring yourself, you will need to provide proof of residence at a Kent address as part of your application. We expect professionals who are completing the application on behalf of someone else to check that recipients of vouchers meet all the eligibility criteria.

Eligible families receiving benefits related free school meals will have received food voucher support directly from their eligible child's school over the school holidays. An additional £100 voucher will be available to all children eligible for free school meals directly from their school, outside of this scheme. It's expected that these vouchers will be available to eligible families from schools in October.

If you are not eligible for means tested benefits because you are awaiting Home Office approval for your residence or immigration status and don't have a National Insurance Number, email householdsupportfund@kent.gov.uk with details of your circumstances and reasons why you need this support, attaching all supporting evidence to the email.

If you qualify, we will issue your household with vouchers to the value of £100 which can be redeemed towards food.

Apply

Applications are currently closed.

All applications already received will still be considered and we will be in contact once a decision has been reached.

If you have submitted an application but haven't received a confirmation email, it's possible that we don't have your correct contact details. If you have checked your junk mail folder and still haven't received a confirmation email for your application, call 03000 41 24 24 so that we can verify your details. If we are unable to contact you, your application may be closed.

If you need immediate assistance, check the other places to get help section for further advice.

Appeal a decision

If we have declined your application within the last 7 days and you feel the decision should be reviewed, email householdsupportfund@kent.gov.uk to appeal, giving as much information as possible about why you feel the decision should be reviewed.

Receiving your voucher

If your application is successful, you will receive a £100 e-voucher which will be sent via email or text message. This will contain a code that will enable you to redeem the e-voucher through the voucher issuer's website. You can then use this e-voucher towards food costs.

Read more about how to claim your voucher.

Vouchers are usually issued to eligible applicants within 10 working days. If you are expecting a voucher but haven't received it, check your spam and junk folders. If it still hasn't been received, call us on 03000 41 24 24 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 3pm) or email householdsupportfund@kent.gov.uk.

Redeeming your voucher

You can redeem your voucher at a supermarket of your choice from a list of participating supermarket chains which can be selected when initially completing the application form.

Voucher expiry

The e-voucher expiry date will be dependent on the retailer chosen. We advise you to use your voucher as soon as possible as they cannot be reissued.

If you are not eligible for our help or you need advice about something else, our cost of living support pages can help you find other support.

You can:

• check if you are eligible for any benefits
• get advice about how to reduce energy use and who to contact for help paying bills
• use our help and support finder to find help available with food, Council Tax, clothing, childcare and much more.

You can also visit the government's cost of living hub for further information.