Inverclyde housing associations secured over £4.4m for tenants in 2024/25

Between April 2024 and March 2025, more than 1,000 face-to-face and telephone appointments were delivered, supporting 398 new tenants and 109 returning tenants, and resulting in 1,460 individual advice interventions such as benefit checks, form completion and appeal submissions. On average, each tenant supported gained £1,836 a year, easing pressure on household budgets.

A further c.£250,000 claims were still awaiting processing by benefit agencies at year end.

Funding from Oak Tree, Cloch and Larkfield enabled a dedicated advice service in partnership with Financial Fitness, delivering regular surgeries across Inverclyde.

Outcomes included: Oak Tree HA: 223 tenants supported; £370,920 gained. Cloch: 228 tenants supported; £482,330 gained. Larkfield: 56 tenants supported; £77,613 gained.

An IHAF spokesperson said: “These results show the tangible difference targeted advice makes putting money back into tenants’ pockets, reducing stress, and improving wellbeing across our communities. We’re committed to sustaining this support and making it as easy as possible for tenants to access.”

River Clyde Homes’ in-house Financial Wellbeing Service supported tenants to secure over £3.5 million in additional benefits last year. The team provides targeted income maximisation, benefit checks and claims, appeals representation, budgeting/debt support and digital help to access online services.

A total of 790 tenants were supported, in 1302 cases, with £4,483 average gain per tenant.

A River Clyde Homes spokesperson added: “Being more than just a landlord is important to us at River Clyde Homes and supporting our customers to increase their income, manage their benefit claims and appeal decisions is a key part of our commitment to this. We’re proud to offer an in-house, free and confidential service during a challenging time for our customers.”