At Abri, we believe that everyone has the right to a safe and warm home. And with the UK currently experiencing a cost of living crisis, we’re doing everything we can to support customers through this period.
How does this impact our customers?
The cost of living crisis means that the cost of everyday goods and services are rising faster than the average household income. Households in poverty, those who are benefit capped, single parents, and people with a disability will be impacted much more than others. That’s why, now more than ever, it’s crucial that we find ways to support our customers.
What are our customers saying?
At the end of 2022 we surveyed our customers, asking them how they were impacted by the increased cost of living. 4,200 customers responded, this is our largest response to date. Here’s some of what we found:
- Eight out of ten customers felt their current financial situation was worse now than the beginning of 2022
- Two thirds of rental customers and half of shared owners who responded said they would be unable to manage an unexpected expense
- More than a third of rental customers (whose rent isn’t covered by HB or UC) and shared owners said they were finding it ‘very difficult’ or ‘somewhat difficult’ to afford their rent or housing payments
- Nearly half of rental customers and more than a third of shared owners have gone without heating
- Over half of rental customers and more than a third of shared owners said they were worried about meeting monthly living expenses most or all of the time
- Rental customers under 39 are more likely to have debts they find difficult to manage
What is Abri doing about it?
We’re continuously monitoring the situation and have given our teams more resources so that they’re ready and able to respond. In 2022-2023 we invested £3.7m in cost of living support directly for our customers and through community investment.
For immediate support, we have many measures in place. Our Tenancy Support Services (which we’ve grown in response to the cost of living crisis) and Independent Living Support Services are a simple way for our customers to access help when they need it. Last financial year, over 8,200 customers had been referred to the service. Customers can receive advice on welfare benefits, budgeting and other issues that might put their tenancy at risk. During that period we:
- Helped customers secure over £3,411,000 in benefits that might otherwise have gone unclaimed
- Supported over 172 households to access white goods, carpets and other essential items, helping to prevent £337,725 worth of appliance poverty
- Provided nearly 1,500 households with food and fuel vouchers
Abri means shelter, and providing shelter is our purpose. We firmly support the National Housing Federation’s pledge to support any customer that is struggling with money worries and we will not evict a customer due to financial hardship as long as they are engaging with us to get their payments back on track.
We will keep people secure in their homes, help those who are struggling to get the support they need, and as always, act compassionately and quickly where people are struggling.
We’ve created an online hub dedicated to the cost of living. The site shares guidance on how to save on energy bills, access financial support and specific information for Abri customers on what to do if they’re struggling.
The cost of living crisis will affect our colleagues, too. Our colleagues have access to ROAR, our online discounts and rewards scheme, to help them save money on everyday spending. Last year colleagues saved more than £24,000.
Supporting our local communities
We believe local people know what's best for them and their community. Our Customer First strategy recognises just how important working with our communities is. We’re refocusing our community investment and resident involvement, resetting our aim to go where the need is greatest. This means we can target our resources and investment, amplify our work with local delivery partners and adapt our approach when appropriate.
Our Community Fund is one way we invest in local community projects and bolster the efforts of local people. In 22/23 we made £90,000 of funding available. We’re supporting community pantries, locally-owned ones such as Gosport Community Pantry, as well as setting up our own in our cafés – Round About Café in Mansbridge and Café 1759 in Whitehill and Bordon. They help customers to buy food at a fraction of the cost. There’s also the Good Grub Club, which tackles food inequality during the school holidays. Since 2018 it’s helped hundreds of families by providing nutritious free meals, while helping parents to develop confidence, skills and knowledge around cooking on a budget. Recently, we provided £56,000 from our Partnership Fund to six local organisations to run the club for 12 months.
We are continually adapting and exploring interventions to help our communities face rising costs. Other projects include free weekly activities such as the Doorstep Sports Club with Wiltshire Council, school uniform and clothes swaps, and free holiday activities for children and families.
What else can we do?
We know that we can always do more to support our customers and through the hard work of all Abri colleagues, we’ll make sure we’re in the best position to do this. Whether that’s helping them to maximise their income by taking advantage of any support measures, or improving the energy efficiency of our homes to help combat soaring energy bills. In the last financial year we committed £1.4m in additional funding for planned maintenance, and a further £284k through wave one of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) for our homes in South Somerset. We recently received further funding through Wave 2 of the SHDF as part of our Greener Futures Partnership joint bid, which will further help towards improving the energy efficiency of even more homes. And for situations when our homes require more urgent attention, all of our colleagues are empowered to ‘See Something Say Something’ so that we can address it as a priority.
Looking to the future, we’ll continue to work with our new government on any further support that is offered. Through the work of our Tenancy Support Services, we’ll help our customers to maximise their income by taking advantage of any support measures.
We will continue to monitor government announcements and the impact new measures and support could have on our customers and how we can help them through this cost of living crisis.