Member Article

Service diversification boosts growth for Your Homes Newcastle

Your Homes Newcastle’s (YHN) furniture service, Newcastle Furniture Service (NFS), has seen year-on-year growth, with turnover increasing from just over £9.5 million in 2010/11 to nearly £12 million in the last financial year.

More than £1 million of that was new business for contracts won during 2013/14 and this trend is reportedly expected to continue in the year ahead.

NFS also manage YHN’s Own Your Own scheme, launched to provide tenants with an affordable and responsible alternative to high street lenders, which is also going from strength to strength.

It enables tenants to buy leisure and essential household items and spread the cost over low weekly payments. It has proved so successful that it’s now expanding and being offered to other North East social housing providers.

Since launching in November last year, scores of tenants have applied with more than 200 customers currently on the scheme.

It’s estimated that customers have saved approximately £183k by accessing the scheme instead of going to high street retailers that charge high APRs for a similar service.

Own Your Own currently offers a broad range of products, from sofas and beds to computers, TVs and bikes and the range is expected to expand.

Tenants are only eligible for the scheme if they have a clear rent account and credit checks mean they can only buy what they can truly afford.

YHN’s Director of Tenancy Services, Neil Scott, said: “Newcastle Furniture Service helps new tenants furnish their home.

“It eases the financial pressures that new tenants can face when starting out and takes away the worry of what happens if something breaks down or is broken as we’ll repair or replace it.

“The service is also very flexible allowing tenants to take more or less items as their circumstances change.

“For us, as a housing organisation, it helps reduce property turnover.

“NFS is now providing and maintaining furniture and white goods to over 11,000 households and has contracts with almost 20 housing providers across the region”

Neil Scott believes that the success of Own Your Own demonstrates YHN’s commitment to helping tenants improve all aspects of their lives.

Neil said: “Our duty to our customers extends far beyond providing a roof over their heads.

“Own Your Own was created as an ethical alternative to so-called ‘rent to own’ retailers, which depend on the custom of those who can ill afford the associated high APRs and often crippling repayment schemes.

“The fact that we insist tenants have a clear rent account encourages them to keep on top of their finances, in turn making them better equipped to manage their money in the long term.

“We’ve had feedback from some tenants who say they are actively trying to pay back their rent arrears so they can access the scheme.

“It’s fantastic that our diversification into these areas is proving so popular and, with our ambitious growth plans for Newcastle Furniture Service, we’re confident that this will continue into the future.”