Can I afford a Wrekin home?

We want to ensure that all of our new tenancies are affordable and sustainable. We want customers to be able to live comfortably in a Wrekin home and have the means to afford all of the priority household bills, and not just be able to pay the rent.

• Pre-tenancy assessment.

  We carry out a pre-tenancy affordability assessment on all of our new applicants.

  As part of this assessment, you will need to provide 2 months recent and consecutive bank statements.

  We will have a discussion with you about your financial circumstances.

  We will consider your income, regular spending and bill payments.

  We also may also carry out a credit check and a benefit check.

• Rent in advance.

  We ask for rent in advance for all of our properties.

  For our rented properties this will be a minimum of 4 weeks, but could be up to a maximum of 8 depending on payments dates.

  You may be eligible for local authority support with this, (such as a Discretionary Housing Payments or Homeless Prevention Grants), depending on your circumstances and reason for moving.

  You can contact your Local Authority direct about this Find your local council - GOV.UK.

• Financial Support.

  Dependant on your circumstances and reasons for moving, your local authority may be able to help with some of your costs, and/or essential furniture you may need.

  You can contact your local Authority direct about this Find your local council - GOV.UK.

  There are also charitable grants available to support people, and sites such as Lightning Reach allow you to register and search for help that may be available to you.

• Other costs.

  We want your tenancy to work, but we need to be realistic about the costs of moving. You need to consider many other costs associated with a move:

  • Carpets.

    Our new developments have flooring in kitchens and bathrooms, but you will need to arrange for your own carpets to be fitted.

    If carpets in older homes are in reasonable condition, we may leave them for the incoming customer, otherwise you will need to arrange your own carpets/flooring.

  • Removals.

    Consider how much it will cost you if you need to hire a van, book a removal firm, or book time off work to move.

  • White goods and essential furniture.

    Wrekin Reviive sell good quality white goods, furniture and lots more!

    And if you become a Wrekin tenant you will qualify for 30% discount.

    If you find it difficult to get the essential furniture you will need, our Money Matters team will be on hand to advise and help you.

  • If you consider borrowing money to help with the cost of moving, please speak to your local Credit Union first, they may be able to help you, and offer loans at a lower rate compared to other high cost lenders.

    Find Your Credit Union - search to find credit unions near you

• Can I afford a Wrekin home?

  It’s difficult to say without knowing your circumstances, but you can use our affordability calculator to see.

  We have suggested some figures but yours may be different and will depend on your circumstances and property. Its just to give you an idea of general running costs.

• For more information about managing your money, and the help and support available from our Money Matters team, please see our Cost Of Living support pages .

• Low Cost Home Ownership

  We have a slightly different assessment criteria for our LCHO homes (Shared Ownership, rent to buy). Link to tab 4.