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#HomesAtTheHeart of settled futures

 #HomesAtTheHeart of settled futures

This week (commencing 21 September) the National Housing Federation led #HomesAtTheHeart campaign highlights the role of social landlords in helping people have brighter and more settled futures, with a focus on preventing homelessness and providing accommodation.

Housing providers like us are committed to rehousing, resettling and supporting people who are homeless.

Here’s what we do:

  • We’re a partner and guardian of Backup, we support people staying in hostel accommodation, and thanks to the Greater Manchester social impact bond we’ve been able to give a fresh start to local people who’d been sleeping rough- providing them with accommodation, health support and encouragement into education or work.
  • Backup (https://backup-charity.org.uk), delivers crucial housing and support services for homeless young people in Bolton. And we’re proud to work with Backup to ensure people can positively move-on and into permanent accommodation. We did a brief film on how the team provides a safe and stable place for young people to develop their confidence and life skills enabling independence. You can watch it by clicking on this link: https://www.readtap4.online/tap4/backup-schemes/.
  • Together with Arcon Housing Association, other Greater Manchester Housing Providers and the Mayor of Greater Manchester, we’ve pledged to improve opportunities for people who’ve previously lived in care. The care leavers pledge commits us to offering quality and stable housing to care leavers, as well as employment and skills opportunities, plus peer mentoring. We recognise that some young people are dealt a tougher hand, and it’s our responsibility as a community to ensure that we can work together to support and help them succeed in life.
  • Our Tenancy Support services offer tenants regular contact, advice and assistance if they’re finding it difficult to manage their tenancy. We support them to live at home successfully, and support their health and wellbeing for as long as they need. We also provide housing and personal support to people who are vulnerable and survivors of domestic abuse and violence.
  • We tackle poverty with debt and money advice, provide food and clothes initiatives, help people keep warm for less and support people into employment. Between April 2019 and March 2020: more than 4,500 people benefited from at least one of our on-going activities to address poverty; our employment programmes helped 263 people into paid work and 230 people into learning or training programmes; our Money Advice Team helped more than 1,300 tenants to be financially better off by over £6 million in total. Since lockdown, we’ve helped more than 640 families with money advice, and on average they stand to be better off by £5,388 per household over a 12 month period following the support they received.
  • While many new lettings had to be paused during the peak of the pandemic, we were still able to provide homes for 70 people/families who were in temporary or shared accommodation and so needed an urgent move to enable them to observe social distancing. We’re working hard to get back to making more empty properties available to rent as quickly as possible and all in ways that’ll keep the risk of infection to a minimum.
  • Through our development teams, Stonecross Homes brand (www.stonecrosshomes.co.uk) and Arcon Developments Ltd subsidiary (www.arcon.org.uk/our-homes), we’re providing new homes for rent and some for shared ownership as there’s a shortage of quality genuinely affordable housing to rent or buy. Without new social homes many people would live in unaffordable homes, overcrowded conditions, be unable to leave ex partners or parents, and ultimately live at risk of homelessness.

#HomesAtTheHeart is led by the National Housing Federation (www.housing.org.uk). It's a call for a once-in-a-generation national investment for quality affordable housing to be at the heart of plans for social and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

We’re supporting the Homes At The Heart campaign together with Arcon Housing Association (www.arcon.org.uk) and other members of the Greater Manchester Housing Providers partnership (https://gmhousing.co.uk).

We’re doing our bit to show the Government how investment in social housing and the work that housing providers do boosts the economy, creates jobs and improves people’s lives.

You can get involved in the campaign and conversation on Twitter and Facebook. Use and look out for the #HomesAtTheHeart hash-tag.