How Birmingham City Council Empowered 5,200 Tenants to Save £100,000

Birmingham City Council, facing rising living costs and the highest fuel poverty rate in England, needed a scalable, low-effort solution to financially support tenants and reduce rent arrears. Traditional support schemes reached just a small percentage of residents and were resource-intensive.

In response, Birmingham City Council partnered with Housing Perks to launch a self-service savings app requiring no integration or admin. Within 3 months, over 5,200 tenants joined, generating £142,000 in voucher purchases and over £15k savings—all at zero cost or operational burden to Birmingham City Council.

Birmingham City Council is the largest local authority in the UK, serving over 1.1 million residents.

The city has been significantly impacted by the rising cost of living, with energy prices nearly doubling since 2021 and food prices increasing by over 25%.

These economic pressures have led to a substantial portion of households experiencing financial hardship.

Notably, Birmingham has the highest rate of fuel poverty among English local authorities, with 23% of households unable to afford adequate heating for their homes. Additionally, many social housing tenants are facing challenges in meeting their rent obligations, contributing to increased rent arrears.

With the rising cost of living, Birmingham City Council was seeking cost and resource effective ways to help tenants reduce everyday expenses and improve rent arrears, without adding pressure on Council resources. Traditional financial support schemes only reached around 3% of tenants, and often required complex, resource-heavy administration.