Discretionary Housing Payments: what changed, and how Wales still runs it

What happened to Discretionary Housing Payments

DHP has existed for years as a top-up councils could pay when someone’s Housing Benefit or Universal Credit housing element left a gap. From April 2026 that changed in England only: DHP there was absorbed into the wider Crisis and Resilience Fund rather than continuing as a separate, named payment. The Welsh scheme was not affected by that change and carries on as its own DHP scheme.

This is a narrower change than it can first look. It is not that housing-cost help disappeared in England — it is that it stopped being administered, and named, as a stand-alone DHP scheme, and became one part of a single wider fund instead. A search for “Discretionary Housing Payment” can therefore land on old pages describing an England process that no longer runs separately, which is why it matters which nation you are actually asking about.

If you live in Wales: how to apply

GOV.UK’s factsheet for Welsh councils says DHP funding can help with costs linked to the UK-wide benefit cap, the removal of the spare room subsidy in the social rented sector, and Local Housing Allowance rates. In practice this usually means help with a rent shortfall, a rent deposit, or rent in advance if you need to move.

You apply through your own local council in Wales, and each one decides how its application process works. Your council looks at your individual circumstances to decide whether you get a DHP, how much you are paid, and for how long.

Because a DHP is discretionary rather than a fixed entitlement, two councils in Wales can reach different decisions on similar cases, and an award is not automatically renewed — if your shortfall continues once a DHP award period ends, you may need to reapply and explain your current circumstances again rather than assuming the payment simply carries on.

If you live in England: it is now part of the Crisis and Resilience Fund

England no longer runs Discretionary Housing Payments as a separate scheme. From April 2026 the money, and the purpose it served, moved into the Crisis and Resilience Fund, which your council in England now runs as one combined pot covering both general hardship and the kind of housing-cost top-ups DHP used to provide.

If you are struggling with a shortfall between your Housing Benefit or Universal Credit and your actual rent, and you live in England, contact your council about the Crisis and Resilience Fund rather than looking for a DHP application form — the separate DHP process no longer exists there.

If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland

GOV.UK’s own guidance points Scottish residents to a separate application route for Discretionary Housing Payments in Scotland, distinct from the Welsh process this page describes. If you live in Scotland, use that route rather than the Welsh council contacts above.

This review did not find a published Northern Ireland equivalent of Discretionary Housing Payments. If you live in Northern Ireland and are struggling with housing costs, contact the Northern Ireland Housing Executive directly, or see this site’s guide to Discretionary Support, which covers short-term living and household costs there.

Related guides

• The Crisis and Resilience Fund: help from your council in England
• Household Support Fund: it has ended — here is what replaced it
• Discretionary Assistance Fund (DAF): emergency grants in Wales
• Scottish Welfare Fund: Crisis Grants and Community Care Grants explained
• Council Tax Reduction: how much you could get off your bill