Strategies to sustain tenancies

The landlord – then Notting Hill Housing Trust, before its merger with Genesis this year – launched its partnership network as a trial in April 2016. The network aims to help tenants and housing officers within the association seek advice on issues including debt and jobs.

The service was launched after a rise in the number and complexity of enquiries related to financial hardship and jobs, and in the first year helped just under 1,000 tenants.

Through the association’s Altogether Better model, housing officers can refer individual tenants to external partners, including charities and Citizens Advice, to access specialist support.

Commenting on the partnership’s role, Jess Page, tenancy support programme manager at NHG, says: “We spoke to housing officers and tenants and asked what support they need, what they used and who they trust. We hold a database of groups in local areas we work with.

“I was laid off from my last job [at a plastering company]. I was five weeks unemployed, and for the five weeks I kept coming [to Speke Library]. I was a bit shell-shocked, losing my job. It was five weeks of misery,” says Colin Loughran, who is not a South Liverpool Homes tenant. He had heard of Reach and decided to go and see if he could get help.

Walking into the service in the library, Mr Loughran says he was immediately welcomed in a friendly way by the receptionist, and given support by the staff. He went every day he was unemployed, multiple times a day.

“We link up these groups and tenants, and it means that when a housing officer finds a tenant calling him up and saying, ‘I am being benefit-capped and can’t pay my rent’, they can put them in touch with groups that can help.”

The team found partners for financial inclusion, digital inclusion, family support, employment support and other advice services to make it easier for housing officers to gain the specialist knowledge they need.

Notting Hill also created an online database where housing officers can make referrals for tenants to each support partner in their area.

In Ms Cook’s case, her advisor, working with the association, guided her through the process of claiming for help as a carer and contacted both the council and utility firms to reduce the debt burden and organise a payment plan.

Ms Cook says: “After that meeting I realised it was OK to talk about [debt] as there were so many people like me. At first I didn’t want to talk about it as I didn’t want to worry my parents or my friends.

“She [the Notting Hill housing officer] also told me what things I could claim for as a carer; it was a whole weight lifted off my shoulders. I was so overwhelmed I got quite emotional.

Jamie Halpin is 21 and a tenant of South Liverpool Homes. He found out about Reach in a newsletter from the landlord, and decided to check it out.

He’d done a business administration apprenticeship but run into health problems. Reach got him on a work experience programme at Liverpool Airport. Now he has a job there, working across two of the airport’s bars.

“They’re very good at keeping people optimistic about stuff,” he says, adding that the programme also gives advice on CVs and helps with finding opportunities. “Before this I was quite shy,” he says.

“She offered to write to some of the debt people for me, and help address my payments.”

According to Daniel Hibbs-Woodings, housing officer at NHG, the partnership has meant that officers like him are a step ahead and more informed on how to advise tenants than previously: “Before we set up the database for the framework, it was a case of who a housing officer knew or sat next to within the association as to what help a tenant may have received.

“We shouldn’t be putting our tenants’ lives and livelihoods down to the luck of whether a housing officer knows who to refer a case to.”

For Ms Cook, the advice has meant that her debts are now under control and falling, and the security has meant she can plan for her future once more.

“I’ve decided to retake some GCSEs. I am paying £5 a week on the debt for the gas and electricity.

“I have managed to be more of a parent for my daughter as I am not as anxious all the time, and I am in a different mindset; I am caring for my dad better and can leave my home worries at home.”

Rising Stars winner 2017 James Sanderson is this week guest editing Inside Housing and has commissioned a number of articles on his chosen theme 'tenancy sustainment'.

Pieces commissioned by Mr Sanderson so far:

Strategies to sustain tenancies Support to sustain tenancies is increasingly important for tenants and landlords. Tim Clark and Jess McCabe speak to tenants and staff from two landlords to find out about the difference it can make

Keeping people in their homes It’s important to offer well-being services to those with complex conditions, writes Nick Hodgskin of Hanover Housing Association

With the right support everybody can succeed in their tenancy Crisis runs a training programme to help people stay in their tenancies. Chris Hancock explains more

The battle to sustain tenancies Welfare reforms have made affording the rent much trickier for some tenants. So, what steps can landlords take to help out and fulfil their social mission?

Why I chose tenancy sustainment as the theme of my guest editorship James Sanderson has guest-edited Inside Housing this week as part of his prize for winning Rising Stars 2017. Here he explains more about his chosen theme.