Sustaining Tenancies Grant Funding

• Early tenancy support for new Housing Executive tenants (within the first 12 months of a tenancy starting).
• Projects that help Housing Executive tenants to manage their tenancies and look after their homes.
• Projects that provide practical and social support to care experienced young tenants (under the age of 25) to set up a tenancy or build resilience in an existing Housing Executive tenancy and strengthen their community ties.^[1]
• Practical support within the home for older Housing Executive tenants (does not include therapeutic support for medical conditions e.g. hoarding).
• Intensive support for Housing Executive tenants with acute mental health issues or other vulnerabilities in localities where there are gaps in services.^[2]
• Crisis intervention models

The Sustaining Tenancies Grant Funding Programme is open to constituted groups within the community, voluntary and charitable sector operating in Northern Ireland.

This includes Housing Community Network groups / Residents’ groups, Social Enterprises that have registered charitable status, charitable organisations and CICs (Community Interest Companies) that are limited by guarantee.

We will ask organisations to supply documentation to confirm their status. We will perform checks on the eligibility of the organisation seeking funding.

For example, we will check the Government Funding Database. This will be done as part of the Expression of Interest.

We are open to proposals for projects where two or more organisations have come together.

Both organisations must meet the eligibility criteria. But you should identify a lead organisation to allow us to:

• process payments and
• track responsibilities should the project receive an award.

• Housing Association tenants
• Private Rented Sector tenants
• Applicants on the social housing waiting list
• People residing in temporary accommodation 

• Projects and activities that promote the welfare and comfort of Housing Executive tenants including the provision of objects/services which may help them to sustain/manage a tenancy successfully
• Salary costs and volunteer expenses
• Venue hire
• Equipment hire
• Transport hire
• Some non-capital works to property e.g. painting and minor decoration
• Purchase of goods, materials and equipment

• Projects or activities that provide no potential benefit to our tenants
• Projects or activities that duplicate provision that already exists
• Costs that are already covered by other funding or income sources
• Fundraising events
• Goods or services that have been purchased or ordered before receiving a Letter of Offer
• Activities that have already taken place/are underway before the Letter of Offer
• Capital works to commercial or domestic property (e.g. renovation, refurbishment or restoration works or construction of a new building/facility)
• Party political activities 
• Organisations, projects or activities that are unlawful or discriminatory
• Fines or compensation costs

The Application Process for the Sustaining Tenancies Fund has two stages; 

1. Expression of Interest

This is a short form which will enable the Housing Executive to determine the eligibility and suitability of the project for funding. 

The eligibility check is an administrative check to ensure that it is within the legal scope of the Housing Executive to fund the applying organisation and the project. The submission will be reviewed by a panel made up of Housing Executive staff who will decide if a project will progress to stage two.  

From the Expressions of Interest closing date on Thursday 8 August, we expect this decision-making process to take around 2 weeks.
 
2. Full Application and Showcase 

The projects which have been successful at stage one will be invited to complete a full application form which will require more detail about the objectives, project plan and breakdown of costs. 

The group / organisation will also be asked to showcase their project at a short meeting with one of our funding panels. Your project showcase will be in person at one of our offices. This is an informal setting, and an opportunity for you to share your passion for your project. 

You can use any props that you would like, and you may invite anyone to attend with you e.g. you may wish to bring the full project team, or perhaps a service user to provide a testimonial.  

If your project is offered an award, the Housing Executive will prepare a Memorandum of Agreement with you which outlines the payment and vouching schedule, the conditions of the grant, the governance and appropriate insurance arrangements you must have in place, and the monitoring and evaluation duties.

It should be noted the Housing Executive will require all projects involving direct intervention with service users to use the Outcomes Star™ approach to measure outcomes / impact of the project, in addition to any others you propose or are currently using.

Online training for this will be facilitated.

We will release the first instalment of the grant when we receive the signed agreement.
 

The Housing Executive is the Data Controller under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) for the personal data it gathers for the purposes of administering the Sustaining Tenancies Grant Funding Programme. 

The information you provide as part of the funding application process is required for the following specified purposes;

• identify the group
• update the relevant funding databases
• provide any communications which may arise throughout the application process; and 
• payment of any funding which may arise from the application

In submitting an Expression of Interest form for the Sustaining Tenancies Grant Funding Programme you are consenting to the Housing Executive processing your information for these purposes.

You can withdraw your consent for this information to be processed at any time by contacting:
Email: SustainingTenancies@nihe.gov.uk

If you withdraw consent, the Housing Executive will be unable to further progress your application for funding.

Sharing your information with others

Your information may be shared internally within the Housing Executive with staff who are involved in providing this service and, where necessary, between internal departments with the purpose of supporting effective delivery of service. Personal data is held and stored by the Housing Executive in a safe and secure manner and in compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018. 

Information in relation to an application for funding, including contact details provided as part of the application, may also be shared with others for statistical analysis, and will be included in the Government Funding Database – the purpose of which is fraud prevention/detection.

This information is only shared where this is necessary to comply with our legal obligations, or as permitted by the relevant data protection legislation. 

The data provided to the Housing Executive as part of the application process for funding will be retained by the Housing Executive in line with the current retention policy.

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