Tackling furniture poverty in Liverpool: a fairer and healthier approach

Furniture poverty is the inability to access, or afford to buy or maintain, any household furniture or appliance item that is essential for a socially acceptable standard of living. At least 26 per cent of social housing tenants live in furniture poverty - yet only 2 per cent of social homes are let as furnished.

To tackle this problem, Public Health Liverpool have partnered with the charity - End Furniture Poverty- to support local social landlords to commit to furnish at least 10 per cent of their properties. End Furniture Poverty has created ‘Furniture Flex’, a new furniture scheme to help make this happen.

Research undertaken by End Furniture Poverty found that 9 per cent of adults and children in the UK are living in furniture poverty and that social housing tenants are some of the worst affected. It is estimated that 26 per cent of social housing tenants are living in furniture poverty and that 8 per cent of social housing tenants are living in ‘deep furniture poverty’, living without three or more essential furniture items. In areas of higher deprivation, such as Liverpool, these figures are likely to be higher. It is estimated that 18,000 children in Liverpool City Region do not have a bed of their own to sleep in.

Living in furniture poverty can have a devastating impact on people’s physical and mental health, and their social and financial well-being. 

Despite the level of need, social homes traditionally are unfurnished. This may meet the needs of many tenants, but for some, particularly those coming from homelessness, fleeing domestic violence, or those on very low incomes, furnishing a new property can be a mountain to climb. 

In some areas, there are local authority local welfare schemes which can provide support with one or two items, but these budgets are under immense pressure. One social landlord in Liverpool, Torus, has a well-established furnished tenancy offer and efforts were taken to encourage other landlords to introduce schemes of their own.

Liverpool City Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board recognised that furniture poverty is having a significantly negative impact on the health of its population. The board worked in collaboration with a Liverpool-based national charity campaign, End Furniture Poverty, to bring landlords together and encourage their commitment to furnishing at least 10 per cent of their properties. The 10 per cent figure reflects the fact that only 2 per cent of social homes are currently furnished, while 8 per cent of tenants live in deep furniture poverty. 

A furnished tenancy scheme can provide a tenant with all the essential furniture and appliances that they need, along with the peace of mind of knowing that if items break or need replacing, they are covered. The cost of the furniture is recouped through the service charge element of Universal Credit and furnished tenancies, or furniture rental agreements can be offered to both new and existing tenants. 

Liverpool Public Health team and End Furniture Poverty convened a housing summit at Liverpool Town Hall in September 2023, inviting social landlords to join, discuss the issue, and to outline the benefits of a furnished tenancy scheme. To ensure full buy-in, they met with the chief executive of each registered social landlord in advance of the summit to outline the content and hear their initial thoughts. 

End Furniture Poverty developed a new furniture offer called ‘furniture flex’ with colleagues in their sister charity Furniture Resource Centre. Furniture flex aims to address all the barriers that landlords face when introducing a new scheme. Landlords can buy or rent the furniture, with the rental route meaning there is no capital outlay. There is enhanced administrative support to help smaller landlords manage a scheme, landlords can offer tenants one or two items, or a full furniture package, to meet all needs, and training and workshops for staff are provided, as well as ongoing support, to help landlords at every stage of process. 

Following the successful housing summit, End Furniture Poverty delivered two sessions to outline furniture flex with groups of landlords, and followed up with each landlord offering individual meetings, support with writing business cases and staff workshops to encourage organisational buy-in. 

More than 50 per cent of the registered social landlords in Liverpool have now pledged to start a scheme and End Furniture Poverty is working closely with them to help them stay on track. They also continue to reach out to the remaining landlords to encourage their commitment.

Once the schemes are up and running, the cost benefits will be clearly identifiable and have been demonstrated by social landlords already running schemes. These will include a reduction in rental arrears and void costs, and increased tenancy sustainability. Social landlords can also make a surplus with schemes, which can be reinvested to expand schemes or support tenants in other ways. End Furniture Poverty is also carrying out a Cost Benefit Analysis on furnished tenancies to demonstrate the wider cost savings to the public purse, such as reduction in temporary accommodation costs to local authorities, costs to social services and health services, and much more.

End Furniture Poverty is now speaking to social landlords and local authorities in Greater Manchester to replicate the success pioneered in Liverpool, as well as developing a national campaign for 10 per cent of all social properties to be furnished. 

Social landlords are well-regulated organisations and can be hesitant to start a furnished tenancy offer based on failed schemes in the past.  Understanding their challenges, and their barriers, and ensuring that they are all acknowledged and overcome, is vital for success. 

‘Myth-busting’ is crucial to allow landlords to fully understand the process of establishing a scheme, and to be clear of the wider benefits for the organisation. A partnership approach, bringing the social landlords together but also the wider support organisations who work with the landlords and their tenants, has also been very beneficial to maintain momentum. 

A clear target of 10 per cent along with evidence-based benefits for both landlord and tenant has been vital. The benefits for the tenant are clear, they are being provided with the essential furniture items that they need, but highlighting the benefits for the landlord with regards to tenancy sustainability, reduced rental arrears and void costs has encouraged landlords to engage with the campaign.