Recruitment on the agenda to help tackle tenants’ rising bills

A north Wales housing association is looking to help its tenants offset the increasing cost of living by strengthening its welfare team and bolstering the financial guidance available to its tenants.

Grŵp Cynefin housing group is recruiting a welfare team leader to support residents at a time where inflated bills may leave many vulnerable.

The addition to the department comes amidst growing pressure on tenants due to more costly utility bills, an increase in National Insurance contributions and a rise in essential products.

Those living in any of Grŵp Cynefin’s 4,800 properties across north Wales and northern Powys are able to access the necessary support to maximise their finances if needed.

Since April 2021, the welfare team has helped 884 residents receive a total of £771,363 through tailored bilingual guidance.

The team help tenants gain access to available financial resources, including signposting residents to local resources, identifying funds and assisting on grant applications.

Grŵp Cynefin’s housing manager Rhiannon Dafydd said: “We always have the financial welfare of our tenants high up the agenda. However, in the current economic climate, we’re aiming to strengthen this support even further to help people prioritise their finances effectively and understand where exactly their money is going.

“There is so much help on offer and we don’t take a ‘one size fits all’ approach as we tailor our advice to the individual’s needs, and staff ensure they are on hand through every step of the journey.

“Recruiting a team leader will reinforce this and help further break the stigma
surrounding financial difficulties, which often makes dealing with these experiences isolating and harder to combat.”

One handy resource available is a free online benefits calculator, that residents can easily access which indicates what help they could be missing out on.

Rhiannon added: “What people often don’t know is that there are so many grants on offer which remain unclaimed and disregarded.

“We try and cover all bases for our residents, including occupation-specific funds. For example, we flagged up the National Caravan Council Benevolent Fund to one resident who was eligible for its support.

“We are also encouraging some of our tenants to look into the Welsh Government tenancy hardship grant as it can help with rent arrears that occurred due to covid for example, if a resident lost their job or had reduced income in 2020 or 2021.”

The closing date for the team leader application is Friday 18 February.

To find out more about current roles at Grŵp Cynefin, visit https://www.grwpcynefin.org/en/about-us/careers/