At their meeting today, Sefton Council’s Cabinet approved a scheme to enable new social housing tenants of future council homes to rent essential items of furniture.

Essentials

This would mean people entering a new social housing tenancy with the council may be able to furnish their homes with essentials such as a cooker, fridge freezer, sofa and armchairs and beds subject to affordability. Other items such as dining tables and chairs, wardrobes and washing machines would also be available under the scheme.

According to research carried out by End Furniture Poverty, 4.8 million adults and 1.2 million children in the UK are experience furniture poverty. This means they are living without essential furniture items such as a cooker, fridge or bed.

National issue

Cllr Daren Veidman, Sefton Council’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for Housing said: “Furniture poverty is a widely recognised, national issue. It affects people on lower incomes and can have a negative effect on their physical and mental health. And it makes it more likely that tenancies will fail.

“By providing new tenants with the option of an affordable way of furnishing their home when they move in, we can help take away the hardship that many people face because, owing to a low income, they cannot afford the outlay for new furniture.

“We can also help reduce the likelihood that they will need to incur debt and take on expensive credit to make their homes inhabitable.

“As well as removing this anxiety and making those people’s lives healthier and more comfortable, introducing this scheme will also make it more likely that families will stay longer in their tenancies and have more stability.”

Referrals

Tenants will not be able to self-refer to the scheme. Referrals will be made through support workers such as housing officers and social workers.

Now the scheme has been agreed, the Council will begin discussion to find an established third-party company to rent and deliver items to tenants. The company will also provide installation, maintenance and replacement.

Agreements would be between the company and Sefton Council, which would paying a weekly fee.

Sefton Council will review the scheme after 12 months.

Positive all-round effect

Cllr Veidman added: “This scheme will have a positive all-round effect but will be particularly beneficial to households with children and young people, for whom the home environment is so important.

“The stability it provides will help those children and young people’s future health, education and prospects through the rest of their lives.”

You can find the agenda and papers for the 3rd April Cabinet meeting here.