Fuel Poverty Fund
Over the last week or so, we got together with the other RSL’s in the Borders, to submit a bid to the SFHA and Scottish Government, for a share of a £2m Fuel Poverty Fund. The bid was led by Eildon Housing Association and was successful in getting an allocation, of £450,000. There are two strands to the fund.
- £250k will be directed at measures to address the experience of self-disconnection. We will be working with the Fuel Bank Foundation on this – they have a tried and tested approach to which lets them act quickly with households who have either self-disconnected or are at risk of self-disconnection. They can issue fuel vouchers at short notice. This fund will be ring-fenced for tenants in the Borders and there will be a referral process set up across the 4 RSL’s;
- £200k has been allocated to assist with tenants who are in extreme fuel debt – these funds will be targeted at those households where we know they have significant fuel debt and this is contributing to a downward a spiral in their circumstances. We will assist these households to reduce or eliminate this debt whilst working with them to put their finances on an even keel for the future.
The crazy scenario is that this money has to be spent by the 31st of March this year…….and almost impossible task. However, Derek and Kendra are leading on this for us and are pulling out all of the stops. We’ll let you know how it works out.
