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Our new Access to Accommodation programme is investing in new ways to provide housing
Duncan Shrubsole explains why St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity has set up a new fund to support small housing projects for people experiencing homelessness, with the aim of opening up innovative ways to address the housing crisis
Duncan Shrubsole explains why St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity has set up a new fund to support small housing projects for people experiencing homelessness #UKhousingTackling homelessness requires urgency and action at both a national and local level.
At the end of last year, the government set out its long-awaited strategy to tackle homelessness in England. It promised to prioritise prevention, end unsuitable temporary accommodation for families and halve long-term rough sleeping.
As we said at the time, the commitments were right and very welcome, but what matters is the sustained leadership and resources to ensure it actually happens on the ground.
Crucial to success is ensuring the right accommodation is actually available across the country for the people who need it. And with national homelessness statistics showing that all forms of homelessness are remaining stubbornly high, particularly the number of households in temporary accommodation, that need is clear.
Those working on the frontline of tackling homelessness told us at St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity last year that 83% of them found it difficult to access housing that meets the needs of the people they support, with over half (55%) telling us this had worsened in the last year.
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And the latest national rough sleeping statistics show that nearly a third (31%) of people sleeping rough reported this was because they didn’t know how to find accommodation or help. A fifth of them said it was because that there was no homeless accommodation available locally.
The government has committed itself to building 1.5 million new homes. This is a big task, and we need these to be built quickly – with as many of them to be socially rented as possible. But new homes and wider change will take time. If you are homeless today, time is one thing you do not have.
That’s why at St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity we have created our Access to Accommodation fund. Through conversations with charities, frontline workers and people with lived experience of homelessness, we heard the same message: organisations are working hard to develop practical housing solutions, but often lack the resources needed to unlock them.
Through this new programme, we have dedicated over £620,000 to support smaller, community-based charities to develop new ways to either create or unlock accommodation in their local area. Each has seen a significant demand in their services, but they have been struggling to access accommodation for those they are working with.
Our funding will enable them to provide housing solutions in their local communities – using local expertise to respond to specific challenges and developing solutions with these insights in mind.
From repurposing derelict buildings in Great Yarmouth to building modular homes on unused land in Oxford, to adapting properties for disabled people in Liverpool and creating new options to live and work for women with no recourse to public funds in Leicester, all eight projects are designed by teams working closely with those experiencing homelessness.
The projects are tackling unmet local needs and will receive significant flexible funding and support from us over the next three years. Working alongside these organisations to gather insights and learnings, our programme aims not only to deliver immediate housing but also to help identify solutions that could be replicated more widely across the sector, and in different locations. And we are now expanding the programme to support projects in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland too.
World events are undoubtedly casting a heavy shadow and will make economic prospects and funding for new housing even more challenging. With this programme, and the partners we are supporting, we want to show it is possible to make a real, practical and tangible difference with relatively small amounts of money, making more appropriate accommodation available to help people move out of and away from homelessness.
Grassroots charities are on the frontlines of the housing crisis, and they know their communities inside and out. We hope this will encourage government, local councils and other funders to invest in and support these kinds of organisations to create solutions to the housing crisis so that more people can have a safe and secure place to call home.
Duncan Shrubsole, chief executive, St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity
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