Independence

We put our tenants and customers at the heart of everything we do, to help people build better lives, meet their individual needs, and support them to live independently through specialist supported housing, technology-enabled care, and other preventative and critical support services.

As RWP, we are one of the UK’s largest providers of supported living accommodation for people with a learning disability, autistic adults and those with a mental health condition. We are responsible for over 4,000 supported living tenancies across the UK.

This year, we continued with our Better Quality Services review which aims to improve the way services are delivered, and we met all our rent arrears and voids rent-loss targets.

As an active member of the Learning Disability and Autism Housing Network, we continue to work alongside 25 other providers to campaign for more supported living accommodation to meet the growing need. We also work to influence legislation, such as the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act, and are members of Learning Disability England and support its Vision for Change campaign.

We have remodelled our repairs service using regional contractors so that we can provide a better service to our tenants. We also developed new supported living properties to extend our services to more people, creating new homes for 30 tenants. Several properties enabled individuals with high support needs to move out of institutional settings to new homes in the community. We also bought the freehold of some properties that we previously leased in the Devonshire area, further increasing the security of tenure.

RWP tenants at a LiLAC chat in Leeds, sharing their views to shape better supported living services

This year, we completed 1,087 adaptations, including providing thumb-turn locks for easier access for tenants, installing ramps and handrails for level access at properties, and accessible bathing facilities. We also funded 145 environmental jobs, including removing fallen trees, carrying out large-scale garden cutbacks, jet washing, and improving boundaries. 

We appointed a new contractor for supplying our white goods, which means we can provide better choice for our tenants.

Around 10 events, involving 40 RWP tenants took place during the year, enabling tenants to voice their views and aspirations, and influence our services.

Our RWP tenants continue to access funds for projects from our Community Investment Fund. The gardening projects remain popular as they promote wellbeing and a sense of community, reflecting tenant preferences for activities that enhance their quality of life.

We take pride in providing specialist, uniquely tailored supported living. We keep our tenants at the heart of everything we do, aiming to provide homes that meet their needs and help them live independently. We actively engage with our tenants, incorporate their feedback, and ensure that our services evolve to meet their expectations and needs.

In 2024, we established our new RWP Tenant Committee, which plays a crucial role in improving our service offer to tenants. The committee includes four tenant representatives with lived experience who share their views to help drive improvement.

Our Tenancy Sustainability Service prioritises new tenants to settle into their homes financially and emotionally. The service offers up to three months of support, such as help with maximising income and benefits, setting up utility bills, budgeting support, finding furniture grants, and general wellbeing support, whilst supporting existing tenants.

This year, we supported 276 applicants and 143 tenants with accessing £813,170 in grants and benefits. Due to positive and proactive relations with South Ribble Borough Council, we were asked to manage the Housing Support Fund/Step Up Grants for tenants living in South Ribble. This was completed in partnership with our charity, Key Unlocking Futures, and resulted in 199 tenants benefiting from a total of £61,615.

Our Tenant Support Fund has continued to provide substantial support to 284 households. This fund helps tenants facing unexpected emergencies or one-time costs such as food, fuel, domestic appliances, and furniture. This year, the fund allocated a total of £114,165.

We also support existing tenants in maintaining their tenancy by taking referrals from the area housing teams in cases of debt management, benefits and support in property condition cases. We also work collaboratively with Key Unlocking Futures to offer additional specialist support.

An area housing officer offers one-to-one support in the office — part of our commitment to helping tenants sustain healthy and secure tenancies

We are continuously looking at ways to work with tenants so that they can enjoy sustainable and healthy tenancies. For supported living tenants, a new process was introduced which provides early notification of when they are in rent arrears, so support can be made available.  

The impact of tenancy sustainability support has resulted in over a 47% reduction in tenancy terminations within the first 12 months of the tenancy start date, compared to the previous year, which represents an estimated saving on relet costs of £117,000.

In collaboration with Life & Progress, we continue to provide free advice and support for tenants. It helps those facing challenging times to maintain their tenancies by offering confidential and independent support to manage finances, budget for household bills, find employment and training opportunities, develop digital skills, and address mental health and wellbeing concerns. 

This year, the service provided support 107 times. This included 71 phone calls, with 78% for immediate counselling and 22% for general advice and referral to external support. The Life & Progress service is integral to our improved tenancy sustainability offer.

Housing Perks, our free shopping app, also enabled tenants to get discounts on their shopping; between May 2024 – April 2025, over 700 tenants and employees signed up for the app, resulting in a cumulative saving of £12,126.

We are in the process of introducing a new function to the app, whereby tenants will be able to use any discounts they receive to be paid directly onto their rent account. By turning everyday spending into a way to contribute towards rent payments, it helps make it easier for tenants to manage their housing costs.

We believe that tenants have the right to feel secure and comfortable in their homes and neighbourhoods. To achieve this, we work hard to ensure our communities are welcoming places to live, work and visit.

We collaborate closely with tenants and key partners, including the police, social services, and healthcare providers, to address and resolve issues related to neighbourhood disturbances, anti-social behaviour (ASB), and hate crimes. This year, we handled 666 ASB cases, which is a reduction of 12 cases compared to last year.

For our supported living tenants, we proactively engage with tenants showing early signs of ASB-related behaviours. We used acceptable behaviour contracts in some cases combined with tailored support from social services and support providers to reduce the risk and provide additional support, if needed.

Eviction risk is reduced by addressing the root cause to help vulnerable tenants stay in their homes.  

Our charity, Key Unlocking Futures, continued to support victims of domestic abuse with its refuges and outreach service.

This year, tenant satisfaction with our community safety services stood at 61.3%, falling short of our target of 85%. Together with the Tenants' Voice - Improving Services group, we conducted a review of the service, identifying crucial areas for improvement. Many of the tenants involved had personal experiences with ASB and provided valuable insights into how these situations were managed.

To tackle ASB effectively, we continue to employ a balanced approach that combines prevention, support, and enforcement. Over the year, our employees participated in training sessions to enhance their ability to handle ASB cases efficiently.

Working together for safer communities