Sustaining Tenancies to offer £3 million in funding
The Housing Executive has announced details of the latest Sustaining Tenancies Grant Funding Programme 2023-25, which will see an investment of over £3 million in the voluntary, community and charitable sector over the next three years.
Emma Geddis, Sustaining Tenancies Grant Funding Programme Manager explains:
“The Programme, which was first introduced in 2021, was developed to ensure that Housing Executive tenants are supported to create more resilient, sustainable tenancies in the short, medium and long term, and in particular, to help vulnerable customers at greater risk of tenancy breakdown.
“To date, we have invested approximately £1.5 million which has supported 36 projects across Northern Ireland, which in turn have provided valuable support to our tenants.
"We are now encouraging organisations in the voluntary, community and charitable sector to apply for funding for grants between £5,000 and £100,000.”
“We have identified a series of priority funding areas for this, the first of three funding rounds, and would particularly welcome applications for projects which address these issues,” Emma said.
The priority funding areas include:
- Projects that help to alleviate the impacts of the Cost of Living crisis on Housing Executive tenants
- Mental Health and Wellbeing of Housing Executive Tenants / their households
- Practical support / resources for managing and maintaining a Housing Executive tenancy
- Sustaining tenancies sustainably - projects that support Housing Executive tenants to manage their tenancies or engage with their community and reduce their carbon footprint.
The first stage of the two-step application process opens on Monday 2 October for expressions of interest for projects which last up to 36 months, and closes on Friday 20th October at 5pm.
This stage of the process requires the completion of a short application 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 project, and the submission will be reviewed by a panel made up of Housing Executive staff who work either in local offices or work on housing policies and strategies.
They will decide if a project will progress to stage two.
Projects which are successful at stage one will then 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 applying for the funding will also be asked to showcase their project at a short meeting with one of our funding panels.
More information on the programme and the application process is available in our section on:
Sustaining Tenancies Grant Funding
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, and Social Enterprises that have registered charitable status and CICs (Community Interest Companies) that are limited by guarantee.