Ending homelessness with a little help from our friends

It’s easy to theorise about how we can put a stop to homelessness - but the past 15 months have shown that it’s the partnerships on the ground that deliver meaningful results and truly improve people’s lives. 

Everyone deserves a place to call their own, a stable home that they can build their future from.

Where organisations work in partnership that is much more likely to happen. That’s why it’s been at the heart of ForHousing’s most recent initiative.

We’re really proud to have developed 39 aspirational homes in Salford for people facing homelessness that help fuel potential through wrap-around support.

The Homeless Prevention Homes scheme has transformed three former garage sites that had become a hotspot for anti-social behaviour into new homes for those facing a life on the streets.

They are offered at low sub-social rent to tenants identified as vulnerable. The rent includes all bills, service charges and WiFi and the apartments come furnished including white goods. Tenants are provided with dedicated support to begin rebuilding their lives, move towards living more independently and in the long-run, a more permanent home.

Just as important as the homes themselves is the wraparound support that ForHousing provides. Every tenant is allocated a dedicated support worker who helps them access training and employment opportunities, address any health and wellbeing issues and create a pathway to a better life.

All 39 of the tenants, including eight care leavers, are sustaining their tenancies and several people are now in full-time employment.

But none of this would have been possible without working with our partners.

The scheme would never have been viable without a £1.46 million grant from Homes England, and we worked closely with them throughout the project to make sure that we could deliver the levels of support we know will make the difference to people’s lives.

And every step of the way we have worked closely with Salford City Council to ensure we are allocating these new homes to the people that need them most.

By bringing forward what we’ve learned from this scheme, we’re now progressing two similar developments aimed at people facing homelessness and are sharing best practice with other housing providers considering similar approaches.

These schemes change lives.

21-year-old Chloe Fox was one of the first tenants to move into one of the homes. She was facing homelessness after a breakdown in her relationship with her sister meant she had to leave the home they shared.

She was living in a bed and breakfast and then shared accommodation with 30 other people. Now she has a home of her own and a new start. That’s what we’re offering people, and that’s why we should set aside any differences and find ways to work together.  

I truly believe that - with a little help from our friends - we can make an end to homelessness a reality.