The Big Lottery Fund has awarded 37 projects a total of £31.7m to help improve the financial situation of people living in social housing across England.

The drive aims to reverse the effects of a "poverty premium" which sees people without access to basic financial products, such as bank accounts, incurring more costs by accessing funds through services such as loan sharks.

Figures from the Department for Business Innovation & Skills have shown that an estimated 310,000 people borrow £120m each year from loan sharks, paying back £450m. 

BIG's Improving Financial Confidence programme has therefore awarded grants of between £568,000 and £1m to charitable and non-charitable organisations seeking to provide financial support and advice to around 150,000 tenants across England. 13 Citizens Advice Bureaux are among the awardees, receiving funding for specific projects aimed at financial education and support.

The programme is supported by Money Saving Expert founder Martin Lewis, who said: "Disgracefully it costs more to be poor," he said. "The poverty premium means, from household goods to energy bills, things are more expensive for those with little cash as they need to borrow to buy or don't get the direct debit discounts others take for granted.

"Sadly we still don't have compulsory financial education on the curriculum, and even then, more will be needed to help the financially excluded.

"The Big Lottery Fund's Improving Financial Confidence programme is a good step towards that," he added.

A full list of the organisations receiving funding is available here.

BIG explains its Improving Financial Confidence programme below: