Our response to the Spring Statement

The Chancellor announced a 5p cut to fuel duty, starting from 6pm tonight and lasting until March 2023; a doubling of the Household Support Fund to £1bn from April 2022, to be distributed through local authorities; a raising of the National Insurance threshold by £3,000 to £12,570; and a cut to the basic rate of income from 20p to 19p in the pound from 2024.

In a step towards reaching the 2050 net zero target, the scrapping of VAT on energy efficient materials, such as solar panels, heat pumps and insulation, is also a positive move.

We also welcome the government’s intention to create a new culture of enterprise, with increased training and investment. This echoes our own focus of creating thriving and sustainable communities, where everyone has equal opportunity for improved life chances. We look forward to hearing more details in the Chancellor’s autumn Budget.

All of this will help provide greater financial security during the challenging times ahead.

Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, cost of living crisis and knock-on effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, providing extra security for cash-strapped families while fixing hard-pressed public finances is a difficult balancing act. All things the Chancellor stressed during his speech.

We know that households across the UK are feeling the effects of spiralling living costs and, as a housing provider, we see first-hand the impact this has on our customers and communities.

We remain as passionate as ever about making sure everyone has a safe, warm, affordable and sustainable home.

This is why we pledged £15,000 to HACT’s Energy Hardship Fund, to help make sure that people don’t have to choose between a warm home or food. We make sure our customers know of the other ways they can get help; providing specialist support through our Tenancy Sustainment team, including signposting families to household goods, food and fuel vouchers.

It’s also one of the reasons why we launched our Living Well campaign this spring, during the cost of living crisis. The aim being to help our customers to save money, reduce food waste and make steps towards tackling climate change.

We’re investing £15 million in our communities between 2020 and 2025, including helping 2,500 people into sustainable employment. By prioritising our employment service, focusing on supporting our customers to access better employment opportunities, gain new skills and explore their full potential, we can actively play a part in the government’s Levelling Up agenda and help customers take back financial control of their lives.