Social Housing Tenants in £1.3m 'Poverty Premium'

Over a quarter of social housing tenants are missing out on huge savings by using cash to pay for bills, goods and services, rather than direct debit, according to research from Experian highlighting the financial inequalities faced by people in social housing when accessing essential services. For many low income families paying in cash, this ‘poverty premium’ has been calculated to amount to more than £1,280 a year – which could be saved if they were paying by direct debit. Experian’s research found that out of the 4.8 million people living in social housing 1.3 million of them are paying the majority of their bills in cash. This highlights the challenges faced by many social housing tenants in the UK. To help address these, Experian and Big Issue Invest (The Big Issue’s social investment arm) have partnered to create The Rental Exchange which aims to open up financial opportunities, previously enjoyed only by those with a healthy credit rating. Read more about The Rental Exchange on the Experian website.