Earlier in the year, the council conducted a trial partnership with Housing Perks. This app provides tenants with exclusive offers and discounts at retailers such as Sainsbury’s, ASDA, Morrisons, and Argos.

During the trial around 5,000 tenants downloaded the app, which generated savings for these households of £17,722.

The trial has been a success, and the council is looking to continue with Housing Perks while implementing a new feature where tenants are able to put their savings towards rent arrears payments.

Councillor Nicky Brennan, Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness, said:

“We are committed to doing all we can to support our tenants through the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, and I am pleased to add the Housing Perks app to our other cost-of-living support.

“Housing Perks provides our tenants with discounts on everyday essentials and big one-off costs.

“We understand how challenging it can be budgeting and managing household bills, so we are implementing a new feature that gives tenants the option to pay any savings made through the app directly to their rent account. By doing this, tenants can keep on top of rent payments while doing their weekly shop or buying petrol.

“By linking tenants’ everyday spending to rent payments, we hope this will provide an additional way to help tenants who are struggling during this cost-of-living crisis.”