Royal Borough of Greenwich (Welfare Rights Service)

Summary of Submission

The Money Advice Team have worked in partnership with the Housing Income Team at Royal Borough of Greenwich to pioneer a unique approach to tackle entrenched rent arrears for council tenants.  By combining lump sum payments to reduce rent arrears with one to one holistic money advice, they have sought to bring about long term behaviour change.  Residents are provided with as much support as they need from a dedicated case worker to stabilise their financial situation.  Case workers focus on intensive income maximisation, expenditure reduction and practical advice about all their debts to put the resident in the best possible position to pay their rent consistently in the future. To date, the team has supported residents to set up arrangements to address many thousands of pounds worth of rent arrears.