Fears about how poorest social housing tenants will cope financially in the winter

Martin Shipton

New research has found that social housing tenants are particularly vulnerable to a deepening cost of living crisis and face a challenging winter.

A survey of 20 Welsh housing associations by Community Housing Cymru (CHC), the umbrella body for social housing landlords, found that 80% of providers are seeing increased demand for financial support compared with last year.

As many as 95% of the organisations surveyed said they are concerned about their tenants’ financial resilience ahead of the winter.

Amid rising inflation and a volatile energy market, housing association staff identified food and energy costs as the most common financial challenges facing their tenants.

The research demonstrates how housing associations are helping tenants manage their money. Social housing renters experience higher rates of poverty than people living in other tenures and are more likely to be affected by disability or long-term health conditions.

Between April and June 2026, housing associations provided financial support to 5,380 tenants, helping to increase their incomes by more than £6.8m in just three months.

Frontline staff support tenants to ensure they receive the benefits they are entitled to and, at crisis points, provide energy and food relief.

But while housing associations’ dedicated support teams are working hard to meet tenants’ growing needs, this support can only go so far.

CHC is calling on both the Welsh and UK governments to strengthen crisis support and stresses the need for a long-term plan and funding settlement for housing associations to tackle the root causes of financial hardship.

The report describes how Cadarn Housing Group recently helped a tenant downsize to a one-bedroom flat after her previous living arrangement became unaffordable.

Jo – not her real name – was living in a three-bedroom property, but after her partner left, she began to struggle financially because she was paying the “bedroom tax” – where Universal Credit payments are reduced based on under-occupancy – on two spare bedrooms.

At first, the move proved difficult for Jo, who didn’t want to leave the family home, where her children had been raised and happy memories made. She was also still concerned about affordability, as severe back and foot pain, as well as anxiety and depression, significantly affected her ability to work.

This was when Emma Blackmore, Cadarn’s financial inclusion officer, stepped in to help.

Ms Blackmore first provided Jo with vouchers to help with energy costs but also supported her to complete a successful Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim, ensuring it fully reflected the health challenges Jo experiences day to day.

The PIP award, amounting to around £17,000 over a three-year period, has given Jo greater financial security and peace of mind. This additional income has helped her buy garden furniture so she can spend more time outdoors, something she says has had a positive impact on her mental health.

Ms Blackmore said: “This case highlights the importance of looking beyond the immediate reason for a visit. A simple conversation during a tenancy sign-up led to a significant increase in income and improved wellbeing for a tenant who was facing multiple challenges.

“Knowing that the support provided has helped someone not only financially, but also emotionally and mentally, is incredibly rewarding and a reminder of why financial inclusion work is so important.”

‘Individual support’

Oonagh Lyons, director of housing and communities at Cadarn Group, said: “Housing is about much more than providing a safe home. Our Financial Inclusion Team provides practical, individual support that makes a real difference to people’s circumstances.

“This is a great example of the impact that early, person-centred support can have, helping residents not only to sustain their tenancy, but to feel more financially secure and supported.”

Both the UK and Welsh governments have identified helping households with the cost of living as a key objective, and CHC is calling for strengthened crisis support in the forthcoming budgets to help those most acutely affected.

CHC says mechanisms such as the Discretionary Assistance Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments need to be more accessible, flexible and consistent. It also backs the Guarantee Our Essentials campaign, which calls for a protected minimum level of Universal Credit that ensures people can afford the basics.

While housing associations’ energy efficiency improvements are having a direct impact on energy affordability, CHC says further targeted help is needed for those in greatest difficulty, along with meaningful debt relief. It is calling for a social tariff for households in greatest financial difficulty, alongside accessible energy advice.

Long-term plan

CHC argues that a long-term plan for housing – giving housing associations a multi-year funding settlement to plan repairs, retrofit programmes and new developments with confidence – can help tackle the root causes of financial hardship and build poverty out of people’s homes.

Hayley Eastment, policy lead at CHC, said: “In delivering energy efficiency improvements and developing new high-quality homes, housing associations are not waiting for change – they are already delivering it.

“When we get housing right, the benefits are felt everywhere – from cutting household bills, to reducing pressure on the health service and supporting children’s education.

“We need a long-term plan to kickstart Wales’ housing recovery, building stronger communities, lowering bills and improving outcomes for social housing residents – creating resilience against the deepening cost of living crisis.”

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