A HIGH street weekly payment store run by a charity has opened in Burnley’s Charter Walk shopping centre.

Our House, which offers weekly payments for new household goods such as sofas and fridges is only the second of its kind in the country and promises to assist families in hardship.

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The intention is help families by offering deals for essential household goods to those who may have difficulty in gaining credit or who cannot afford a lump sum purchase.

The shop has been opened by FRC Group, a not-for-profit business, working in partnership with Calico Homes.

They promise “a completely new type of high street store with weekly prices up to 50 per cent cheaper than other high street rent to own stores”.

Donald Stark, for Our House, said: “Because we are a social business with no shareholders, and also a charity, our top aim is to offer the best value for our customers, not to make profits for ourselves, so we have kept our prices as low as we can and will continue to work hard to drive them down even further.

“At Our House we want our customers to spend less money and we are here to help them to save as much as we can.

“We have no expensive service package that you must take out and insurance really is optional.”

Our House is being supported by Calico Homes because they feel a growing number of people are turning to expensive sources of credit, such as payday loans, high street rent to own stores, and even loan sharks, in order to buy household goods.

They point out many people do not have bank accounts and have a poor credit history, which reduces their options and puts them at greater risk of financial exploitation.

Helen Thompson, of Calico’s director of customer services, said: “We’re delighted to see Our House opening in Burnley.

“The service they provide will benefit our communities, particularly in some of our poorer neighbourhoods.

“It is also great to have worked alongside Our House to recruit staff, apprentices and volunteers directly from the Burnley area as, at Calico, we’re all about making social profit, rather than financial profit.”

The new store has also been endorsed by the leader of Burnley Council, Mark Townsend. He said: “This sounds like a laudable enterprise and anything which makes core household goods more affordable to families has got to be a good thing.

“I hope it will be of benefit to those struggling financially.”