Last year Tenancy Sustainment Officer, Stephanie Knox, worked with a new tenant who was moving to a Harbour Homes flat after living in domestic abuse temporary accommodation. Unfortunately, the sources of support we would typically use (eg charitable grants) had already been accessed by the tenant with help from her previous service. These were no longer available to her and we could only provide a small contribution of £200 to help her get started in her new tenancy.
In 2025, we submitted a successful joint bid alongside ARCHIE to the Upstream Homelessness Prevention Fund. This gave us access to £59,757.60 over one year to assist tenants in ways we couldn’t previously. For example, we can now help tenants access higher quality flooring in a colour of their choice. We can also help source white goods and have then installed within a much faster timeframe. We’re working with Harbour Multi-Trades to assist vulnerable tenants with tasks they are unable to do themselves, such as fitting curtain poles and curtains if required. There is a cash-first element to the funding which gives people who access it choice and control. Cash-first recognises that the immediate solution to poverty is money.
Once this fund became available to us, the tenant’s Housing Officer visited and found that she was still living in very difficult conditions. Most of her flat had no flooring, she had no proper bed or sofa, and her windows were without blinds or curtains.
Through the fund, we were able to step back in. We arranged for flooring to be fitted, provided cash support for a new bed and sofa from a local charitable store, and gave her the means to buy window coverings. Today, this tenant has a safe and comfortable home. She now has the basics needed to feel settled, and the difference this has made to her wellbeing is noticeable. This fund gave her the chance not to just move in, but to truly make her flat a home.
Would you like to speak to our Tenant Advice team?
Moving into your own home for the first time? Unsure how to apply for Universal Credit? Need someone to chat to? There are lots of things we can do to help you live comfortably in your home. Our Tenant Advice Service has a team of advisors who are happy to help with money and debt advice, energy advice, tenancy sustainment advice and benefit advice.