The Homelessness Reduction Project was a major partnership between Liverpool City Council, housing associations and support charities across the city that created a radical new way of offering permanent homes to those in need.
Together we have helped more than 1400 people, with more than 800 now in their own homes and being supported whatever their needs – which have included the provision of furniture packs and assistance setting up home.
It has been shortlisted for Homelessness Partnership of the Year at the UK Housing Awards, the sector’s biggest awards event.
The partnership working behind it is like nothing the city has seen before. With the letting of housing association homes at a standstill in lockdown, Liverpool’s social landlords were able to join together to prioritise vacant properties to help the council provide homeless households - including rough sleepers, care leavers, and women escaping domestic violence - with the opportunity to have a permanent home rather than moving them on to alternative temporary accommodation at the end of the pandemic.
People were given a choice and a say in their new homes so it met their needs, and was in the right location for them. Support organisations and homeless charities worked with tenants with multiple and complex needs to help them with everything from substance abuse, avoiding social isolation, managing their bills, and registering with GPs.
Plus Dane’s director of housing, Cathy Biggs, who helped to lead the project, said: “This project has made such a difference to so many people’s lives, and been a brilliant example of partnership working that the city can be proud of. The results have been beyond anything we expected. So many organisations have worked together as part of it, and have been dedicated to helping homeless people through the pandemic to make a brand new start in a place they can call their own.”
The UK Housing Awards take place in London on November 25.
Full list of partners:
Crisis Merseyside, Cobalt Housing, Furniture Resource Centre, Fusion 21, IDVA, Liverpool City Council, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority, Liverpool YMCA, Pine Court Housing Association, Plus Dane Housing, One Vision Housing, Onward Homes, Prima, The Regenda Group, Riverside, Sanctuary Housing, South Liverpool Homes, Torus,The Whitechapel Centre, Your Housing
