Strengthening financial and digital inclusion

Launched in October 2025, our Early Tenancy Money Advice service helps Customers settle into their new homes by providing essential household items, furniture, and energy-efficient appliances. 

Through partnerships with Furlong Flooring and Designer Contracts, we provide free flooring to Customers in need. We also introduced furniture vouchers for care leavers, those leaving temporary housing, and Customers fleeing domestic abuse.  

By supporting charities like Gift 92, Fresh Start, and our own Furnishing Futures project within Living Plus schemes, Customers are supported in early tenancy to furnish their homes at low or no cost. 

Digital access is vital for connection, employment, and claiming benefits, yet many Customers face digital exclusion. Our Customer Wellbeing Survey found that 10% of Customers cancelled broadband or mobile contracts last year to save money. To bridge this divide, our digital empowerment project helps Customers to get online. 

We continue to work with Computers4Charity to refurbish staff devices and partner with Vodafone to provide SIM cards with six months of free data to Customers and Community organisations.

One Customer supported shared: “The phone arrived safely and it’s awesome and has taken a massive weight of stress off my shoulders.”

We also collaborate with AbilityNet to deliver digital workshops for older Customers and Customers with disabilities and with local Community organisations, such as St Werburgh’s ‘Easy PC’ programme, to drive local inclusion. 

Our 2024 Wellbeing Survey revealed that 31% of our affordable housing Customers often struggle financially. To address this, our national, telephone-based Money Advice team assists Customers with benefit checks, applications, and appeals. They provide budgeting advice to maximise income and signpost to external specialist partnerships. 

In Scotland, our Financial Inclusion team supports Customers with budgeting, income maximisation, and sustaining tenancies through home visits, office appointments, and remote support. 

One Customer, struggling with Universal Credit delays and lacking essentials, received immediate support from the Financial Inclusion team. They secured grants, emergency food vouchers, and a furniture referral, preventing rent arrears. The Customer shared: “I don’t know what I would have done without your help – you’ve made my house feel like a home.”