A housing association in Liverpool is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a £50,000 donation to help residents struggling financially, who find themselves using payday loans, illegal loan sharks or expensive door lenders to get by.
Liverpool Housing Trust (LHT) is making the investment in two unions – Central Liverpool Credit Union and Halton Credit Union – with each receiving £25,000.
This is in the hope that more residents will stop using payday loans and other similar sources of income, and switch to the credit unions.
Credit unions are an alternative to payday loans, and are generally much cheaper than payday loans. They cannot charge more than 2 per cent per month.
“By depositing £50,000 in our 50th year, we hope more of our tenants can benefit from more affordable borrowing,” said Lynn Bundu, assistant director at LHT.
“Credit unions play a vital part in providing affordable credit and a safe place to save. They’re run by the community, for the community, and that’s something we want to support. Payday loans and borrowing from doorstep lenders means people pay a premium for credit and money is lost from the community.”
LHT provides more than 11,500 homes across Cheshire and Merseyside, after being founded in 1965 by volunteers who recognised the dire housing conditions and poverty in Liverpool at the time.
