Our social impact

We want customers to know we’ll listen and help them stay in their home if they’re struggling financially. But it’s also important we understand why people fall into arrears and how best we can support those in financial difficulty. So, this year, we supported a report, The Bottom Line, to help shape how we collect rent. We’ll look at more ways to connect and build trust with customers, strengthen our relationships with organisations such as credit unions, and continue to invest in innovative approaches to alleviate hardship.

We developed the Universal Credit (UC) Helper, a free online tool to help people when applying for UC for the first time. The mobile-friendly tool takes users through every step of an application, from creating an online UC account, to making a claim, and what to expect when attending an interview. More than 3,000 customers have accessed the tool and 71 other organisations are using it. The tool was named ‘Most innovative new product’ at the 2022 Housing Digital Innovation Awards.

£1.65m in social value was delivered by our suppliers, including project sponsorship, customer recruitment, training and workshops and skill sharing. Social value delivered this year is nearly 12 times 2020/21 (£130k). While social value activities were affected by COVID-19, the main reason for this increase is a successful drive to encourage suppliers to commit to delivering social value and offering a wider choice of activities.

We’ve been working to reduce youth violence in our communities for many years. In 2021/22 we joined a new partnership with London’s Violence Reduction Unit and eight other housing associations to work with communities to identify and tackle violence across the capital. The partnership gives vital support to young people, their families and communities, providing mentoring, conflict management and counselling.

We estimate domestic abuse could be happening in about 5,800 of our homes at any one time. This year, we:

• Updated our customer domestic abuse policy and procedure
• Reaffirmed our commitment to supporting staff experiencing domestic abuse, through the Chartered Institute of Housing’s ‘Make a stand’ pledge
• Trained staff in domestic abuse awareness
• Set up a £25,000 Domestic Abuse Fund, giving financial support to people experiencing abuse
• Installed additional security measures to customers’ homes

The total social value of our tenancies in 2021/22 was at least £601m, or £17,684 per tenancy. This is made up of the core social value of our tenancies (£440m, or £12,960 per tenancy) and the economic impact of building and maintaining homes (£161m, or £4,724 per tenancy). The annual direct benefit of all Hyde’s social tenancies, £440m, is shared between:

• Economy: £198m. More adults are in work through the stability of social housing, with less presenteeism and absenteeism
• NHS: £98m. People in social housing have fewer drug and alcohol issues, there are fewer falls for the elderly and fewer GP and A&E attendances
• Police and justice: £61m. People in social housing are less likely to be involved in, or be victims of, crime, reducing arrests
• Local authorities: £53m. Local authorities save money by moving people out of temporary accommodation, helping the elderly stay independent for longer and reducing the number of children on the Child Protection Register
• DWP: £14m. Social tenancies increase employment, reducing Universal Credit claims
• Education: £13m. Children are more likely to attend school
• Banks and creditors: £1m. Social housing results in less problem debt
• Fire Service: £2m. Secure, safe and high quality housing reduces the risk of fires.