Tenants with support needs

3 min read

Many landlords have a close relationship with their tenants. However, talking about personal issues and support needs can be challenging and awkward. The following information about community services and organisations may be useful to your tenant, and help them to keep their tenancy.

On this page:

Help in the community

The following support services are available:

  • Help with claiming benefits and filling forms
  • Mental health and well being
  • Support for immigrants and ethnic minority groups
  • Support for women in the community
  • Support for adults with dyslexia
  • Support for children and young people with mental health and emotional difficulties
  • Support for alcohol and drug issues
  • Support for families and single parents
  • Support for hoarders
  • Support for victims of domestic abuse
  • Support for adults and children with autism, and their carers
  • Support for children and adults with special educational needs, and disabilities

Signpost your tenants to our support in the community page. This page has videos with optional subtitles in a number of different languages.

Supporting tenants with dyslexia

Dyslexia does not only affect the ability to read and write. For many it also affects memory, organisation, time-keeping, concentration, multi-tasking, and communication.

How you can help:

  • Ensure your tenant has set up a standing order so they don’t forget to pay their rent. Encourage them to do the same for council tax and utility bills. It may also be possible to set up an Alternative Payment Arrangement (APA) if they claim Universal Credit, meaning you, the landlord, would receive the housing element of Universal Credit directly from HMRC.
  • Suggest they set a reminder on their phone for bin collection day
  • Send text reminders, for example, if you are going to be visiting the property
  • Break any directions or instructions down into smaller chunks, or use bullet points or a numbered list

Some dyslexic people experience a visual effect when reading, making words unclear, distorted etc. When writing to your tenant you can help by doing the following:

  • Change the background colour of the screen to something other than white
  • Use a dyslexic-friendly font, or a larger font
Last updated on 30/05/2024