LHA and CASPAR+NR help Northampton residents to save » Housing » 24dash.com

People in Northampton are being helped to make the most of their hard-earned cash thanks to a social landlord teaming up with a local credit union.

As the credit crunch continues everyone is feeling the pinch, so neighbourhood renewal initiative CASPAR+NR, working in partnership with housing association LHA, is offering a unique savings scheme to residents in the Castle ward to help make their money go further.

Through the scheme, if people save any amount with Northampton Credit Union for three consecutive months, CASPAR+NR and LHA will match-fund the savings up to £50.

LHA and CASPAR+NR are providing £3,500 funding to enable up to 70 local residents to take advantage of this offer.

The scheme is open to all residents at LHA’s Newlife Apartments and Omega House, as well as anybody living in the Castle ward, which includes Spring Boroughs, Lower Mounts, Semilong and part of St. James.

Amanda Hack, Economic Development Manager at LHA said: “LHA is committed to helping our residents, and the wider community, take control of their finances. Our savings scheme with Northampton Credit Union will encourage people to regularly put aside whatever they can afford and enable them to access low cost loans – with the added bonus that we will double their savings, up to £50, after the first three months.”

David Taylor, Vice President at Northampton Credit Union added: “Times are tough financially for everyone at the moment and people may be tempted to turn to door-step lenders – but we would warn against this, as loan sharks will charge very high interest rates, pushing people deeper into debt.”

A credit union is a financial co-operative owned and run by its members on a voluntary basis. Members who save a little each week or month can then borrow money at reasonable rates, as low as 1% per month.

For more information about the savings scheme please contact LHA’s Community Development Officer, Gemma Craigie, on 01604 607044, or Northampton Credit Union on 01604 250016.

In January, staff from LHA, together with CASPAR+NR, Police Community Support Officers and other partners visited 900 homes in Lower Mounts offering expert advice about money, work and skills, as part of a project called Making Connections.

LHA, a housing association which is part of the LHA-ASRA housing and regeneration group, manages nearly 1000 homes in and around Northamptonshire.