Just under twenty of applicants to the Auckland City Rail Link hardship fund have been declined

Auckland Council and The Crown set up the fund in September last year to help inner city businesses affected by CRL construction.

The fund has paid out more than one million dollars as of last Friday.

City Rail Link CEO Sean Sweeney says says it is not a surprising number after seeing some applications.

He says some applications are from well outside the geographical area, while there are strict dates around when their businesses started.