ForViva_Annual Report_V16_Digital(2)

Tenants access their welfare benefits entitlement and/or discretionary payments We work closely with tenants who are affected by welfare changes and experiencing poverty. Through a range of interventions, including effective use of partnership support from external agencies, the following outcomes have been achieved:

• 308 tenants were supported to maximise their income by £293,000, an average of £951 per person. • No households affected by the benefit cap who engaged with our service were evicted, with 66 out 79 affected tenants supported to apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment.

• 7,177 Discretionary Housing Payments and backdated housing benefits payments were received, sustaining tenancies . • 1,090 tenants were supported when moving on to Universal Credit , including 104 through the Full Digital service. The rent collection rate for these tenants is 99.67%, an increase of 1.26% on 2016/17.

“ I had just come out of a domestic violence

320 tenants sustained their tenancies through 944 interventions

relationship and you helped me out a lot.

“

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