Intensive intervention support for young tenants offers a hand up when life is tough

As part of our commitment to help its customers lead resilient lives, Riverside piloted Intensive Intervention in Carlisle last year. Funded by Riverside Foundation, the project is designed to help tenants aged 16 to 30 remain in their homes. A year on, all households at risk of losing their home at the start of the pilot are secure in their homes. In addition, the service has reduced rent arrears in the area by over £6,000 to date.

Following the success of the pilot, Riverside – which manages 55,000 homes from Irvine to Ipswich – is now rolling out the service across the country.

Here is  one of the case studies about the difference this project has made for one young woman in Carlisle.

 “A hand up is so much better than a hand-out “

Alyson *, 28 of Carlisle, had been keen to get back into work after having a baby but the zero hour contract job she took led to a spiral of debt. Juggling childcare and shifts with no guarantee of work – or pay became increasingly difficult and she was forced to give up the job and claim benefits.

As a single parent to a pre-school child, Alyson found herself overwhelmed by her situation and became depressed, withdrawing from everything around her. She had reached the point of not opening post and had stopped communicating with her housing officer.

By the time her housing officer managed to get her to agree to a referral to the intensive intervention service Alyson had already been taken to court for non-payment of rent and was at serious risk of losing her home.

Del Parker, intensive intervention officer, worked with Alyson to help her navigate her way through the process applying for welfare benefits, which with the recent changes she found very confusing.

Another major issue were the energy bills which Alyson just couldn’t keep up with. Having got into arrears her energy company installed a pre-pay meter but were deducting the arrears at an unmanageable level, Del helped Alyson work out a payment plan with the energy company which they were happy with.

Helping Alyson create a budget plan and identifying which were the priority debts was a turning point for her. She avoided eviction and now has direct debit in place, pays her rent on time and is working on reducing rent arrears. Her energy debt is now clear and she has made payment plans with other debtors which she is keeping to.

As part of the support service Alyson was referred to the employment and training team and helped to develop her CV, apply for jobs and interview techniques to build her confidence. Alyson quickly found work with a national catering franchise and within a few months she had been promoted to team leader.

Del Parker, Intensive Intervention Officer in Carlisle says “Helping Alyson to take control of her debts has helped her to take back control of all aspects of her life. The change in Alyson is remarkable, no longer overwhelmed and hiding from everything she is confident and happy her life is back on track.”

Alyson told us “ When it all gets too much burying your head in the sand doesn’t make the situation go away…asking for help may seem hard at the time but not asking for help is ten times worse. I am so grateful for the support Del gave me…a hand up is so much better than a hand-out. I’m proud to be standing on my own two feet again “

* Name changed to protect the case study’s identity. Image is stock photo