With soaring energy bills and the cost of living crisis severely affecting many of the Association’s tenants, the funding of over £186,000 will help households who are in, or at risk of, fuel poverty and hardship as a result of rising living costs.

Distribution of the funds will be managed by the Association’s tenancy sustainment projects, ASSIST (housing support), SMART (money advice) and Energy Advice. Tenants who meet the criteria are being identified and those who are eligible will be contacted.

Energy top-up payments of £245 from the £166,000 award from the Social Housing Fuel Support Fund will be issued.

The £20,000 grant from The National Lottery has enabled a new Heat and Eat Initiative to be established. Slow cookers, air fryers, heated throws, duvets and warm clothing will be distributed to tenants experiencing hardship because of the cost of living crisis. Food packs will also be distributed in partnership with CFINE, a local organisation tackling poverty.

Rachel Byiers, support services lead, Grampian Housing Association, said: “We recognise the financial stress many of our tenants are experiencing and the tough choices they sometimes have to make between ‘eating and heating’, so we are delighted to be able to offer practical support during these difficult times.

“We will continue to support our tenants in any way we can as we face soaring energy prices and the cost-of-living crisis.”

Commenting on the successful funding applications, Carol Reid, housing operations lead at Grampian Housing Association, said: “Securing this funding means we can now help lighten the financial load for many of our tenants who have been struggling to cope with current cost of living crisis.”

According to the Scottish Government, the fuel poverty rate is expected to increase to 39% in April 2023 when the Energy Price Guarantee increases for a typical household from £2,500 to £3,000. This will result in an additional 120,000 fuel poor households compared to October 2022, bringing the total number of households in fuel poverty in Scotland to 980,000, of which 860,000 (34%) will be in extreme fuel poverty.