“We’re here to support our tenants, not evict them!”

Housing Officer Vicki shares how she's been supporting residents with their changing needs helping to manage tenancies for the long term. 

This month she stepped in to help a tenant who was struggling with their mental health after they weren't responding to her attempts at contacting them. 

Concerned for their wellbeing Vicki visited them at home to see what was going on. 

“I knocked on and was relieved they answered but could quickly see they’d started to neglect themselves and their home,” said Vicki.

“I talked to them on the doorstep as they didn’t want to invite me in, and they told me they had been struggling with their mental health.

“I immediately reassured the resident and made it clear that I wasn’t there to judge and that my main concern was making sure they were okay.

“At that point, they invited me in, and I could see they were hoarding and were visibly embarrassed.

“I explained the risks living like that had on their health, safety and overall wellbeing and with their agreement we came up with a support plan to improve their living situation.”

Vicki shares how the resident was grateful for her help and support and said they now feel a lot better.

“I appreciated that the initial visit would be overwhelming for the resident, so I left my number and gave them time to think things through before making any decisions”, explained Vicki.

“Over the next couple of days, we kept in contact by phone and text message until they decided to take up my offer of support.

“From there we invited cleaners to come out to do a deep clean and remove any risk to the customer.

“Alongside that, I also put longer-term support in place to help the resident with their mental health.

“After the cleaners had been, the resident called to say they were starting to feel a lot better, and they were grateful for my help.”

At Staffs Housing we pride ourselves on giving the tools and support residents need to help them manage their tenancy for the long-term, which Vicki says was the case here.

“The customer told me that they thought they were going to be evicted because of the state of the home”, added Vicki.

“It’s why they didn’t reply to any messages or calls because they didn’t want anyone visiting and seeing their property.

“At Staffs Housing we’re here to support our tenants, not evict them! We provide the tools our residents need to manage their home for the long term and we’re not here to judge anyone.

“People fall on hard times, struggle with their health or wellbeing and it has a knock-on effect.

“Instead of judging it’s our job as housing officers to get to the route of the problem and find out how we can best support residents.

“We would only ever consider evicting tenants as a worst-case scenario after making attempts to help and support someone to overcome issues impacting their ability to manage their tenancy.

“In this case, I empowered the resident to improve their wellbeing and home situation and I’m so proud that the support has made a difference to their life.”