Freedom2Work: Addressing the revolving door of homelessness and worklessness

As we approach Commonweal's 20th anniversary in 2026, we are sharing accounts that demonstrate the impact of Commonweal's support over the years. Helen Watson, Chief Executive of homelessness charity Rentstart (UK) Ltd, recounts the story of creating Freedom2Work (2016 – 2021), an innovative project helping homeless individuals overcome barriers to employment.

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Back in 2016, Rentstart was delighted to work closely with Commonweal on our Freedom2Work model, supporting our clients to access quality employment. Rentstart had been housing local people in Surrey for over two decades, and at that time, we were steadily growing our support offer. We consistently observed that employment and financial literacy were key components in supporting our clients to move on from our services to independent living.

As such, we devised a new model of support through the Freedom2Work concept and approached Commonweal for help with funding. We could see a strong fit between what we wanted to achieve and Commonweal’s drive to test and deliver new solutions in the homelessness sector.

This project had three strands: housing provision, a match-funded savings scheme, and employment support. We provided housing for clients in properties managed by Rentstart. Clients committed to regularly saving a portion of their welfare payments to build their rent account balance. These savings were match-funded by Rentstart, which was made possible by creating a small surplus between the rent we charged tenants and the guaranteed rent offered to landlords. Support staff also provided clients with in-depth personal support to help them find and retain employment.

Since Rentstart had the necessary properties to run this project, Commonweal provided us with direct grant funding to cover its operational costs for five years. They also offered significant strategic advice and connected us with professors at De Montfort University who evaluated the project. The initial three-year independent evaluation report, published in 2020, calculated that the Freedom2Work project saved the public purse more than £2 million over three years of operation, equal to £8,810 per participant, per year.

We were delighted to report that 35 of the 74 clients had successfully found and retained work. Additionally, 30 clients were able to move on to live independently from our support into the Private Rented Sector (PRS). Most impressively, these clients managed to save a combined total of over £7,500 as they looked to build up their financial security.

Fast forward five years, and the project had housed 96 individuals, with 75 maintaining or starting employment. During this period, participants saved a total of £9,825, with 46% of clients subsequently moving into the PRS.

This project has transformed our client work and led Rentstart to where we are today. We adopt a client-centred approach, focusing on supporting each client we house to set goals closely linked to financial literacy and training or employment. We have seen firsthand that combining quality housing with meaningful work is the most effective way to support our clients in moving on from requiring our support.