Engaging with the Housing Sector: Meeting the Needs of Tenants and Communities

1. Rhian Hughes & Jocelle Lovell

2. WHY ENGAGE WITH THE HOUSING SECTOR?

3. Welsh Government estimates 2012/13 there were 412,779 rented households in Wales. Of these 223,170 (54%) are rented from local authorities or social landlords and 189,610 (46%) are in the private sector. • 2011/12 in excess of 7,500 people were directly employed by RSL’s in Wales (Community Mutual s Commission) • StepChangeDebt Charity – between 2010 and 2013 the percentage of clients in rented accommodation with arrears increased from 18.4% to 24.9% in Wales. In 2013 the average rent arrears of StepChange clients in Wales was £599. (Overall in 2013 there was a 44% increase in the number of people contacting StepChange’s helpline).

4. Bevan Foundation report for the Public Policy Institute Wales estimates that there are 400,000 people in Wales in arrears and/or feel that debt is a heavy burden and about half of all those in debt have household incomes of less than £20,000 a year. • Shelter Cymru and Citizens Advice report ‘Meeting housing costs in Wales’ (2013) found that nearly half of Welsh adults who pay rent or a mortgage struggle to keep up with payments or are falling behind at least some of the time while 1 in 8 (12%) struggle constantly. • A report from Legal and General (Deadline to the Breadline Report 2014) showed that people in Wales have the lowest levels of savings across the UK with a median of only £520 and are on average only 15 days away from the breadline.

5. Welfare Benefit Reform Reduction in income Change in mechanism of payment

6. Understanding needs and limitationsHOUSING • Financial • Resources • Data sharing • Products

7. Understanding needs and limitationsCREDIT UNION • Financial • Resources • Data sharing • Products

8. What’s in it for me? • Housing • Credit Union • Tenants

9. Meeting the needs of your communities & staff. • First and foremost under UC all tenants will need a bank/CU account in which to receive their benefits payment. • Increased rent collection • For your tenants who are not able to open/use a bank account and are at risk of non payment, the rent account is the closest product available to direct payments. • Membership available to tenants and staff alike ( payroll deduction). • Supports wider FI of your organisation, by raising awareness of the products and services available, lower cost loans. • Negating the need to use doorstep/payday/loan shark. • An opportunity to increase tenant engagement.

10. Growth & sustainability • Opportunity to promote membership to both staff and tenants. • Increase membership and level of savings • Payroll deduction makes it easy • Increase tier 1 Loans • Increase visibility and awareness • Opportunity to work with other partners

11. Tenants • Improved financial capability • Access a range of products that meet their varying needs (not one size fits all) • Help to prioritise rent and other payments • Sustained tenancies • Improved wellbeing

12. Activity / Breakout • What do you think are the barriers to you working with the housing sector? • What do you think the barriers are to the housing sector working with you? • How do we overcome these barriers?

13. Barriers to partnership working • Dynamics of organisations – both housing and CU • Personalities • Capacity • Financial

14. Let’s talk about money…

15. What’s happening elsewhere? • North Wales CU & Cartrefi Conwy • Tackling Homelessness Project (THFI) • + other examples from audience

16. What next? • Engage with Housing sector before Universal Credit • Engage with Local Authority • Promote rent accounts

17. Budgeting

18. 0300 123 3311 Wales Illegal Money Lending Unit

19. www.moneymadeclearwales.org

21. Any questions? Rhian Hughes North Wales Financial Inclusion Champion rhian.hughes@walescooperative.org Jocelle Lovell Project Manager, THFI Jocelle.lovell@walescooperative.org