NHF: Federation publishes new financial inclusion advice for social landlords

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Friday, 04, Apr 2008 12:00

A new guide from the National Housing Federation aims to help senior housing managers to find creative new ways of helping tenants who have difficulty managing their money.

'Financial inclusion in social housing' comes hot on the heels of the Federation's resource for frontline staff, 'A guide to financial capability', which was published in February.

Housing associations throughout the country are exploring new approaches to financial inclusion, with many stepping beyond their landlord role to pioneer a range of services from debt advice to affordable loans and banking facilities.

The new guide provides advice to social landlords that are considering moving into financial inclusion, and is also aimed at helping providers with existing financial inclusion schemes. It was written by Community Finance Solutions at the University of Salford, with funding from the Housing Corporation and the Friends Provident Foundation.

It highlights the options open to landlords as they consider the best approach to meeting residents' needs, and looks at lessons to be learnt from the innovative good practice in the sector.

And it recommends that housing providers link up with other organisations when planning financial inclusion services, saying that even the largest housing associations will need to forge partnerships.

Nick Powell, policy leader at the National Housing Federation, said: "More and more housing associations are exploring ways of helping tenants to manage their finances. Our new guide shows there is a business case for this work in that it can reduce rent arrears - but more importantly, it also demonstrates that by making key financial services easier to access, housing associations can enhance the quality of residents' lives and the communities they live in."

Matt Leach, director of policy and communications at the Housing Corporation, added: "We are delighted to support the publication of 'Financial inclusion in social housing'. Not only does this guide underline the clear business case for prioritising this area, it also demonstrates just how important actively promoting financial inclusion is to the sector's success in creating truly sustainable communities."

'Financial inclusion in social housing', priced £25, is available from the Federation's website, www.housing.org.uk/onlinestore.

Ends

For further information contact:

Joe Dumont, joed@housing.org.uk, 020 7067 1028 / 07990 638946 Paul Rees, paulrees@housing.org.uk, 020 7067 1026 / 07974 826587

Notes to editors

The National Housing Federation represents 1300 independent, not-for-profit housing associations in England. Together, our members provide two million affordable homes for around five million people. www.housing.org.uk