David Edge, moved into his flat in September last year but didn’t know there was a variety of help available to him as a Trivallis customer. As a first-time tenant, David had never managed his own tenancy before which meant he didn’t know how to set everything up in order to make his house a home.
For several weeks, he lived without a number of essentials until our Money Advice and SAFE teams stepped in and helped to get David back on his feet.
“When I first moved in, I should have asked more questions because I wasn’t clear on a few things; I wish I’d have spoken up,” David explains.
“I thought I was paying my rent but that wasn’t the case, so I got behind, and the arrears piled up.”
After moving into the property, David was moved onto Universal Credit which meant he no longer received Housing Benefit and, in turn, became responsible for making sure his landlord received his rent each week.
With his rent account in a bit of trouble, Mandy Badman from the Money Advice team reached out to David to help organise his finances and get him back on track.
“Since I started working with David, I have helped to change his Universal Credit payments to fortnightly, rather than monthly, because managing a budget can be difficult; especially if you haven’t had your own home before,” Mandy explained.
“I was also able to get a special grant for Dave so that he could have his very own cooker, washing machine, fridge freezer, crockery, cutlery and more.”
Following her first meeting with David, Mandy contacted the Trivallis SAFE team because they work closely with customers to improve their confidence and help with any skills needed to live independently.
“Within 24 hours, the SAFE team started supporting David as well,” Mandy said. “Sue became Dave’s support worker and we have both been doing what we can to make sure he has what he needs to have a successful tenancy with Trivallis.”
In comparison to where he was just a few weeks ago, David feels like lots of positive changes have been made to his life in such a short space of time: “I feel really happy now, it’s nice to have my own place and I can do whatever I want.
“I can just relax and enjoy the flat, I can go out and see my friends; I just feel much better now that everything is sorted.”
If you have recently moved into your Trivallis home but have never had a tenancy before, read through some top tips on our website: trivallis.co.uk/managing-your-home
For more information on our SAFE service, visit: www.trivallis.co.uk/safe