Homes and communities business Livin has signed up to a new scheme to provide  tenants with a more affordable solution to expensive weekly payment stores.
The Smarterbuys Store offers an affordable and ethical new way of buying household goods including TVs, white goods and furniture with payments up to 40% cheaper than other weekly payment stores.
Philip Pollard, head of financial wellbeing for livin, said: “Times are hard for our tenants and the risk of them buying goods or borrowing from less affordable sources could see personal debts become unmanageable.
The Smarterbuys Store aims to protect our tenants by giving them access to the same quality products but at much more affordable rates and from a source they can trust.
The Smarterbuys Store has been developed in partnership with Northern Housing Consortium, Derwentside Homes and Prince Bishops Community Bank and was set up to provide tenants an alternative to doorstep lenders, loan sharks and expensive weekly payment stores.
The site also encourages tenants to save, by transferring a minimum of 25p per week into a savings account set up as part of the ‘save as you buy’ scheme – which gives the customer the option of either taking the cash back at the end of the payment term, or continuing to save.
“By encouraging them to save we are also helping them plan for the future, as well as helping them build a healthy credit history.”
Tenants can browse and purchase items by visiting www.livin.sbstore.org and apply for the weekly payment option. The payments are lower than other high street payment stores and the 25p minimum ‘save as you buy ’payment is automatically added, allowing the customer to save without having to think about it – they can even choose to save more if they want.