A new finance shop has helped almost 200 people living in the
Dudley borough within two months of opening its doors.
My Home Finance, in Birdcage Walk, offers affordable loans,
money advice, bank accounts and linked savings accounts. It is
aimed at helping people who may struggle to access loans from high
street banks because their income is too low, their credit rating
is not good enough or they simply need quite a small amount of
money for a few weeks.
The National Housing Federation (NHF) launched the
not-for-profit service, which has branches across the West
Midlands, with the support of leading housing associations
including Jephson Homes Housing Association.
Kiran Kaur, the Black Country area manager for My Home Finance,
said the Dudley shop, which opened in the New Year, had seen 195
customers by the end of February and given 50 loans, averaging just
under £400 each.
She said: "There has been a lot of interest in our service and
the feedback has been good. We aim to help people in financial
difficulties and also encourage them to save for the future."
The NHF launched the My Home Finance scheme after producing a
report which revealed that more than two million people from lower
income backgrounds used doorstep lenders and illegal loan sharks
for their credit.
Social housing tenants made up 70% of these borrowers, who were
paying between 200% and 2,000% interest on such loans. This
compares to the initial annual interest rate of 29.9% for a My Home
Finance loan.
Sue Rowley, Midlands Director for Jephson, said: "Occasionally
we all need access to additional funds but, when we do, we need to
borrow responsibly and get the best rate we can.
"Often, tenants do not have access to high street lending
and may end up borrowing money at interest rates of up to 2,000%.
My Home Finance provides a fairer-priced alternative, as well as
offering general money advice and savings opportunities."