Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF)

The Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) is a government-funded initiative designed to target households in genuine need by providing timely, needs-based intervention. Kent County Council (KCC) holds the main funding pot for the county-wide programme. Thanet District Council has been given a specific allocation to manage and deliver targeted support directly to our local residents.

The fund focuses on two main goals:

• Preventing crisis: Assisting low-income households that experience a sudden financial shock they cannot manage alone (such as disasters, accidents, domestic abuse, breakage of essential items such as white goods, or a short-term gap in regular income) to prevent the situation from escalating.
• Building resilience: Helping individuals and households withstand and recover from financial shocks, ensuring long-term stability.

The fund is split into three distinct support streams depending on your household’s needs:

Main Crisis and Resilience Fund pot (ColdBusters)

The Crisis and Resilience Fund offers vital assistance to keep homes warm and energy costs manageable.

What support is available?

Every eligible household visited receives core support with Tier 1 energy efficiency measures. If further needs are identified during a thorough home assessment, Tier 2 solutions may also be supplied. The tier support is below:

Tier 1: Low-cost energy efficiency measures

These items are low-cost, high-impact, and should be considered for most households visited to drive down energy bills:

• Radiator foil & draught-proofing
• LED lightbulbs & power-down devices
• RadBot thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs)
• Chimney balloons & energy-saving shower heads
• Safety items: Carbon monoxide alarms, Smoke Alarms
• Outdoor sustainability: Waterbutts

Tier 2: High-cost crisis items (conditional deployment)

These items (carpets, curtains, washing machines, cookers for example) are subject to strict assessment of the original condition of the home and are only funded after the external funding check.

To ensure the fund targets those most in need, Thanet District Council prioritises applications based on the level of financial hardship, giving priority to households with the most limited means. To be eligible for support from the Crisis and Resilience Fund, residents must meet the following criteria:

• Experiencing a crisis: Applicants must be facing a sudden, unmanageable financial shock (such as a disaster, health emergency, domestic abuse situation, broken essential item, stolen money, or short-term income gap).
• Income & savings thresholds:
  • Be in receipt of a means-tested benefit, or have a gross annual household income of £33,000 or less.
  • Have savings or investments of £3,000 or less.
  • Referral pathway: Must be directly referred by a council-approved partner agency or professional (direct applications are not accepted).
  • View the Crisis and Resilience Fund Framework

Direct applications from residents are not accepted for the main CRF pot. To access support for household essentials, you must be directly referred by a registered, council-approved partner agency or professional. Partner agencies will submit a referral form on your behalf (a list of approved partner agencies will be published soon).

This dedicated stream aims to help vulnerable households maintain a safe, warm home by addressing essential heating issues. For this scheme, we are strictly focusing on boilers and heating controls. Eligible support includes:

• Boiler repairs, or replacements where repair is not economically viable.
• First-time central heating installation or replacement of unsafe heating systems.
• Installation of heating controls, thermostats, and smart heating controls.
• Hot water cylinder and radiator repairs or replacement, plus essential associated pipework.
• Emergency heating provision if a permanent repair cannot be completed immediately.

Who is eligible?

You must own the property or have a mortgage on it.

Priority for heating support is given to: Older people (aged 65+), children under 18, people with disabilities or long-term health conditions, households needing medical equipment, carers, and low-income working households.

How to apply

If you meet the eligibility criteria for boilers & heating controls support, you can apply directly.

How to apply: Contact the Team by calling 01843 577400 or emailing CRF@thanet.gov.uk.

All applications and referrals are subject to a person-centred, needs-based assessment to ensure support is reasonable, prevents future hardship, and offers value for money. Final discretion remains with the council following a thorough review of all evidence.

If your home relies on heating oil as its main source of heating and hot water, you may be eligible for a payment to help manage rising costs. While this may not cover the full cost of a delivery, it is designed to provide emergency financial relief.

The application process differs depending on the type of support you require

Applying for the Heating Oil Support Scheme

If you meet the eligibility criteria for the Heating oil payment, you can apply directly.

• How to apply: Contact the Home Energy Advice team by calling 01843 577400 or emailing CRF@thanet.gov.uk.
• Note on evidence: You will need to provide proof of your financial circumstances, identity, address, and proof that you use heating oil.

We greatly value the essential work carried out by local charities, voluntary organisations, and community groups across Thanet, and we welcome your interest in the Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF).

Our delivery model

To ensure fair, consistent, and equal access for households from all backgrounds across the district in years 2 and 3 of the fund. Thanet District Council is delivering the fund entirely in-house. Because of this holistic approach, we are not distributing portions of the fund to external delivery partners or offering grant pots for other organisations to manage.

Become a registered referral partner

While we are not commissioning delivery partners, we actively want to work with local organisations as referral partners. The Main Crisis Fund does not accept direct applications from residents; it is strictly accessible via referral only from council-approved professionals and agencies.

If your organisation works with vulnerable individuals or families who meet our eligibility criteria, you can help them access the CRF by joining our professional referral network

As an authorised partner agency, you will be able to:

• Identify households experiencing financial shock, energy vulnerability, or sudden crisis.
• Submit a standardised online referral form directly to our in-house team on their behalf.
• Ensure your clients are efficiently connected to our Crisis & Resilience Officers for home assessments and holistic support.

How to register

To learn more about becoming an authorised referral partner and accessing the standardised online referral form, please email CRF@thanet.gov.uk.