Charity seeks new housing-based project partnerships to tackle social injustices

Commonweal Housing has opened a new call for ideas for 2021-22, to find our next housing-based project to support. We want to hear from charitable organisations with new housing solutions to identifiable social injustices, who are looking to develop these ideas in partnership.

Find out more and apply to the Call For New Ideas >>

We are looking to support projects designed to help those whose needs are not sufficiently met by existing services. We are especially interested in organisations looking to respond to the injustices laid bare by the coronavirus pandemic, and project ideas related to our priority areas: 

• The criminal justice system 
• Violence against women and girls (VAWG) 
• Systemic injustices that occur at points of transition in people’s lives.  

We may also consider exceptional applications that do not fall within these categories, and are especially welcoming applications from BAME-led and BAME focussed organisations.   

Successful applicants will be invited to carry out a short-term study to establish the feasibility of their proposed model, if such research has not already been conducted on the idea. This initial study will be used to determine whether the idea could operate as a property-based pilot project. 

Successful applicants who have already completed a substantial amount of feasibility research for their idea will instead be invited to share this research with us, and to discuss what steps would be needed to develop the idea into a pilot project.

Whilst there are no guarantees or promises made at this stage, if there is scope for a pilot to go ahead, Commonweal would look at ways to support the organisation to initiate and run their own pilot in 2022. 

We have a track record of supporting project partners to run impactful and replicable pilot projects, including by sourcing social investment, offering subsidised rent on properties, commissioning external evaluation, and offering strategic guidance. Such support would be on offer to successful organisations following the completion of this initial study.

In return, we are looking for a committed, able and enthusiastic partner with an imaginative idea for a new project and the expertise to execute it with the support of Commonweal Housing. The idea should include an element of innovation, either within the delivery of the project itself, or through supporting a previously overlooked client group.

For more than a decade, Commonweal Housing has been supporting the development of pilot property-based projects with their specialist partners, taking them from initial ideas to evaluated, replicable projects. Our previous projects include housing for mothers released from prison and their children, step-down accommodation for survivors of exploitation, a cross-subsidy model for housing migrants with no recourse to public funds. 

With a number of our existing housing projects coming to the end of their pilot phase, this is an exciting opportunity for new partner organisations to be part of our next cohort of impactful pilot projects.

More information about this call for ideas can be found in this description sheet. Organisations interested in applying to the scheme should fill out the application form, and return it by email to info@commonweal.org.uk.

There is no final deadline for submitting ideas, but we will conduct three reviews of applications submitted to us in 2021, in May, August and November – so if your project is time-sensitive, please do keep these dates in mind.  

For more information about the call for ideas or an informal chat about the application process, please contact info@commonweal.org.uk.