All-Ireland Housing Awards winner 2024

Excellence in tenant financial wellbeing

Woven (formerly Habinteg Housing Association (Ulster) Ltd) was founded in 1976 as a registered housing association in Northern Ireland.

They plan, develop and manage ‘integrated’ housing schemes in both urban and rural areas throughout the region and work with a number of partner organisations in providing supported housing projects.

Woven represents not only their name, but also what they do. Their aim is to develop housing and bring people together to create thriving neighbourhoods, weaving together homes, lives, and communities to help create a shared vision of an inclusive Northern Ireland. Their vision, ‘Homes, Lives and Communities; Woven, as one’ encapsulates this central aim.

Woven are committed to enhancing the impact they have on their communities, focusing on the impacts they have on people’s wellbeing and welfare. Their Tenant and Community Engagement Strategy includes provision of community events and activities, which are organised by their community involvement team and based on feedback from tenants.

Woven’s community involvement team work closely with tenants on a variety of engagement opportunities to identify areas where improvements can be made to all services and how they can continuously improve engagement with, and support of their tenants.

Woven wanted to empower tenants to maximise their financial wellbeing, nurture financial resilience and sustain their tenancies.

Against a backdrop of a cost of living crisis, a tailored approach to meet each individuals’ needs was critical. As social housing tenants, households are more likely to be living with lower incomes or reliant on welfare benefits. Evidence showed these financial situations could lead to deprivation and financial exclusion, so they needed a lifeline to those struggling that could help mitigate the financial hardship brought about by real issues, such as:

• The decrease in weekly earnings in Northern Ireland
• Erosion of the value of welfare benefits - worth 7.5 per cent less in real terms now than they were in 2009 largely due to the multi-year benefits freeze
• Food insecurity
• Rising debt
• The link between deprivation and poor health outcomes – both physical and mental health wellbeing - is well known
• Fuel poverty - low household incomes, high energy costs and energy inefficient homes cause fuel poverty.

Woven set up their Welfare Advice Service (WAS) offering a customised service to tenants, providing free financial advice, guidance, information and advocacy on all aspects of benefit entitlement.

WAS helps from the first engagement with a prospective tenant and continues resolutely throughout the lifetime of a tenancy. All tenants are offered availability of this essential service – through home visits, venues of their choice, community venues or over the phone - to assess their tenants’ individual needs. They host pre-tenancy workshops and provide welfare advice surgeries in community hubs.

Discussions are held with tenants at key points of their tenancy journey, highlighting the WAS and its role in maximising income for the tenant and their household, alleviating financial concerns. This information is reinforced in all written communications regarding rent accounts. The WAS is a particularly significant resource for new tenants, especially those setting up home for the first time, which can be a financially overwhelming experience.

The WAS team complete benefit checks to ensure tenants are receiving their full benefit entitlement. The aim of the service is to help each tenant optimise their income by ensuring they have applied for all available benefits, grants and charitable assistance. The WAS offers support with universal credit – guiding individuals through the process, raising awareness of potential consequences and sanctions, advising how to challenge decisions, and providing assistance to challenge complex benefit decisions, mandatory reconsiderations and overpayments.

Tenant

After some sad, life changing events I found myself homeless, abusing alcohol with no friends or family. When I first met the welfare advice officer (WAO) I had just been released from rehab with no support, financially or emotionally. I was suicidal, lonely and in the depths of despair. At this time the WAO ensured I had food, gas and electric while waiting for income support. She contacted floating support and various charities for additional support and was able to help me complete forms and get my universal credit back. Months later when my physical health deteriorated, the WAO helped me again resulting in a personal independence payment increasing my income. I have been ‘dry’ now for over 12 months and I can honestly say without the support of the WAO and floating support, I may not be here today. The WAO still supports and guides me when required with kindness, care and understanding, I will always be so grateful.

The WAS has proven to be invaluable to tenants, and engagement with the service has increased by 25 per cent over the last 12 months. With a housing stock of just over 2,200 units, in the last financial year the service:

• Secured £417,867 in total financial gain for tenants
• Identified £74,816 in financial gain directly into tenant’s pockets
• Provided benefit advice to 815 cases, 80 per cent of which have poor health
• 81 per cent of new tenants have had pre tenancy welfare advice
• 80 tenants received advice on debt/arrears
• 61 tenants referred to partners for specialist advice such as employment advice
• Produced regular advice briefings to Woven team providing up to date information and advice on welfare benefits.

Case study one – Total weekly increase in income £159

• Couple over 65 years old
• WAO applied for attendance and carers allowance both of which were awarded
• Pension credit awarded
• Entitlement to housing benefit increased to full allowance.

Case study two – Total weekly increase in income £344 plus one off payment of £750

• Single man living alone
• WAO applied for personal independent allowance which was awarded
• Application for universal credit and rates relief housing costs made and both awarded
• Application for employment support allowance disability premium which was awarded.