Posted on 23 January 2023
Our new Cost of Living Helper will help everyone during these challenging times
The cost of living crisis is affecting us all. Energy bills continue to rise, everyday essentials are become increasingly unaffordable and more and more people are needing support.
To help everyone that is struggling with rising bills, and following the success of our award-winning Universal Credit Helper, we’ve now launched our free Cost of Living Helper.
Funded by the Mayor of London and developed by our Advice and Advocacy team, our Cost of Living Helper is designed to help everyone access information and support as easily and quickly as possible. For customer-facing staff, it’s a pocket guide to helping any resident take the first steps to resolving hardship. It’s free, easy to use, designed to be data light, and looks best on a mobile or tablet (but also works on a laptop).
The tool was developed with input from customers, as well as colleagues from third sector organisations. Money guidance and financial inclusion colleagues from different housing associations were instrumental in developing the content for the tool.
Features include:
- User-friendly with clear language
- Signposting to trusted advice and services
- Wide range of accessibility features, including translations to any language.
Kerry Starling, Hyde’s Communities and Social Impact Director, said: “During November and December 2022, 92 per cent of adults reported an increase in their cost of living* and these costs are expected to rise further. Everybody is feeling the impact – whether it’s our customers or the communities where we have homes.
“The Cost of Living tool provides vital help and support. It’s easy to use and is tailored to different audiences – whether you're a shared owner, tenant or you own your own home: Everybody could do with some support right now.
“Like our Universal Credit Helper, we also wanted to come up with a solution that could be adopted across the sector. More than 100 organisations have now created their own version of the Universal Credit Helper. We want to continue to deliver support, and I’m hoping that the Cost of Living tool will also make be able to make a difference to people’s lives.”
It’s completely free for organisations to create their own version to share with colleagues and customers. Organisations can, in a few simple steps, change the branding, add links to in-house services and preferred partners, and add content specific to their customers.
Use the free Cost of Living Helper
Sign up to create your own version of the Cost of Living Helper
*Office for National Statistics