More support for tenants struggling with living costs
As a community gateway housing association, our main purpose is to provide affordable homes and support for people with lower incomes. We also own some garages which are available for rent, and this year we are making a change so that more of the money we receive for these garages goes to those who need it most.
All profits from this year’s increase in garage rent will be going into our Welfare Fund – a critical service we created to support tenants with the cost of living. This change has been championed by our Gateway Membership Team to secure more money for the Welfare Fund, which helped 75 residents in 2023.
80% of our garages are rented by private individuals rather than Watford Community Housing tenants – and we estimate that the extra £1.50 a week in rent from each of our garages will mean £70,000 more goes to our Welfare Fund.