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Our Tenant Support Fund is available to anyone with a Brighter Places tenancy who may be experiencing financial hardship because of the cost-of-living crisis.  It is designed to provide temporary relief from genuine hardship.

We can provide a one-off payment in the form of a supermarket voucher or energy voucher for up to £350.00 for a family of five or more, or up to £250.00 per individual for eligible residents.

Who is eligible?

The applicant household must:

• Hold a Brighter Places tenancy (either as a tenant or a joint tenant).
• Have no more than £50 per month left after essential household expenditure is deducted.
• Be facing immediate financial difficulties.
• Have short term difficulty paying for essential household bills.
• Be willing to fully engage with an income and expenditure assessment.

All applicants will be asked to complete an income and expenditure assessment with support from a Brighter Places colleague from our housing or tenancy sustainment team.

How to apply

If you feel you are eligible, please follow the application process below:

• Contact your housing officer or income officer on 0117 942 4600.  They will discuss your situation with you.
• If you meet the eligibility criteria, we will help you to complete an income and expenditure assessment which once completed, will be assessed within seven working days.
• If you are successful, you will receive a one-off payment in the form of a supermarket or energy voucher for:

Up to £250.00 for an individual

Up to £300 for a family of two

Up to £325 for a family of three to four people

Up to £350 for a family of five or more people

• We will also ask for your feedback on the Tenancy Support Fund and will contact you within a month of you receiving your voucher to ask for your comments.

Please note: Applications are assessed on a weekly basis. 

• Financial health checks and income maximisation
• Funding towards white goods and furniture (depending on criteria)
• Resettlement support
• Energy advice
• Contents insurance advice
• Help to set up a basic bank account
• Signposting to local specialists and advice centres

If you are worried about keeping warm and paying your fuel bills, have a look at our Keeping warm page. It offers useful advice and organisations that can help.

If you do not know your energy provider, we can help you. find out.

Email tenancysustainment@brighterplaces.co.uk

or call 0117 942 4600 (Ask for option 4)

• Help with applications
• Help with appeals in Jobseekers Allowance sanctions
• Help to apply for Discretionary Housing Payment
• Guidance and support: Non-Dependency Charges
• Guidance and support: Universal Credit
• Signposting to local welfare specialists and benefit advice centres in the community
• Council tax discounts:
  • For people with disabilities 
  • For people medically certified to have a severe mental impairment (e.g. Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, severe learning difficulties, multiple sclerosis or effects of a stroke) 

• Help to register with a GP or dentist
• Access to mental health or wellbeing support
• Access to support for drug/alcohol/substance misuse
• Adapt your home for your physical health needs
• Support you around healthy eating
• Support you to quit smoking

• Support relating to CVs, job applications and interviews
• Volunteering opportunities in the local community
• Access to education and training courses
• IT facilities and training

• Preventing isolation in the home
• Access to social groups, classes and community events
• Access to social media communities

• Support for victims of domestic abuse, hate crime or anti-social behaviour
• Access to a Neighbourhood Watch scheme
• Access to a Children’s Centre
• Signposting to community organisations

• Support to empowering you to maintain your property and report repairs