You're Home project update

You're Home operates across five properties in east Belfast, providing housing at reduced rents for those recovering from homelessness, in partnership with East Belfast Mission. Following two years of operation, researchers at Queen's University Belfast are evaluating the project's impact and its potential for replication, with results expected to be published at the end of 2025.

In the meantime, project lead Tom Dinnen, the Hosford Community Homes Manager, shares initial insights from the project and EBM's plans for scaling it up. This interview is featured in Commonweal's latest annual review, entitled Building Together, which can be read here.

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Is there a typical situation for tenants before they move in?

Most of our tenants come from our homeless hostel, often feeling anxious about resettlement. They worry about the lack of funds to pay movers, pay utilities, as well as buy food and toiletries – because moves often happen between pay days. This anxiety is heightened by the immediate responsibility for their new house and their wellbeing without the daily support they became accustomed to in the hostel.

What does the first month look like for tenants moving into a property?

The priority is to complete the change of address formalities to ensure uninterrupted

benefits payments and avoid any lost mail and appointments. Clients receive a range of support to help manage independent living, including applying for rental support, setting up utility accounts, registering with a GP, ordering bins and navigating transport routes.

What are the biggest challenges facing clients?

Due to the shortage of social housing, our clients are usually forced to live in areas

they wouldn't typically consider, as houses near their family support networks are unavailable. Young clients without dependants are forced to live in shared housing

due to unaffordable rents and the lack of one-bedroom housing around Belfast.

Overall, private rentals are too expensive, making it rare for service users to

be able to access them. Clients also face barriers due to a lack of a guarantor

and prejudice from landlords for being homeless or on benefits.

What learnings from the You’re Home model are valuable to the sector?

Firstly, You're Home would not have happened without Commonweal’s technical and

financial support, which included securing social investment to acquire property for the project.

Few homelessness organisations have the capacity and resources to take on a

capital housing project, a challenge we faced until we approached Commonweal.

We want to use our partnership with Commonweal and our project’s community impact to highlight the need for improved access to national social finance within the homeless sector in Northern Ireland.

What initial insights have been captured from the pilot project?

In short everything has gone well. This project has had a transformative impact on the lives of our service users.

Additionally, the project has raised the profile of EBM and the Hosford Community Homes project – another community-led housing project we operate – allowing us to grow our services and open up new opportunities.

What are EBM’s ambitions for the project and beyond?

We have set up a new charity called Hosford Community Homes Ltd, to draw down a

£2 million Financial Transactions Capital Investment (FTC) loan from the government

to scale-up You're Home. We are still looking for £500k of match funding before

we can draw down the FTC loan, but are confident this will be achieved.