When Bromley mum M* was referred to Riverside’s Intensive Intervention team she was in rent arrears and facing eviction.

With a daughter placed in foster care, and a history of anti-social behaviour and drug addiction with ongoing court appearances, M is working with Riverside and Shelter to improve her situation.

M’s learning disabilities and poor mental health have been challenges for her to engage with the reality of her urgent situation: “I wasn’t dealing with what was happening around me. I chose to block it out rather than deal with it. Thankfully Riverside and Shelter stepped in to support me, so now I can be hopeful of keeping my flat and getting my daughter back home.”

Riverside officer Tracy Townsend: “M was in a dire situation. Thankfully now she feels able to engage with myself and her Shelter support worker Rose Arnal, and together we will help M to avoid eviction and keep her home.”

As part of its ongoing commitment to help its customers lead resilient lives, Riverside piloted Intensive Intervention in Cumbria last year. Following the success of the pilot, Riverside – which manages 55,000 homes from Irvine to Ipswich – rolled out the service across the country including communities across the South East.

Funded by Riverside Foundation, the project is designed to help tenants aged 16 to 30 remain in their homes. Riverside launched the scheme in response to research which reveals that this age group is most likely to struggle to maintain their tenancies.

In the past year, a quarter of the tenancies that ended were from 16-30 year-olds, compared to one in five three years ago. While abandonment, prison custody or family issues are among the most common reasons for a tenancy ending, the advent of welfare reform has also contributed to the increase.

*Name withheld for privacy.