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Connie Muttock

Charity seeking new partners with big ideas for housing solutions to social injustice

Please note that we have now lifted our deadline for submissions, which was previously the 1st of May 2020.  

We will be considering applications as they come in and making a decision on a case-by-case basis. Please note we have a fixed budget to support a limited number of research and feasibility studies in 2020. 

Click here for more information and to apply >>


Commonweal Housing is looking for new ideas for our next property-based project. We want to support charitable organisations with ideas for innovative housing projects to tackle social injustice.

Successful organisations would be asked to carry out a short term study to establish the feasibility of an idea and proposed model. This initial study will be used to determine whether or not the idea could operate as a property based pilot project. If there is scope for a pilot to go ahead, Commonweal would look to support the organisation to initiate and run their own pilot in 2021.

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.

We are looking for housing-related solutions to address an identifiable injustice faced by clients whose needs are currently not being met by existing housing provision. We are particularly looking for solutions to social injustices related to Commonweal’s priority areas. These are the criminal justice system, violence against women and girls, as well as systemic injustices that occur at points of transition in people’s lives. We would also consider exceptional applications that do not fall within these categories.

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 a partner organisation to be part of our next cohort of innovative and impactful pilot projects.

Further information about this call for ideas can be found in the call for ideas description. Organisations interested in applying to the scheme should fill out the application form and return it by email to info@commonweal.org.uk by midday on 1st May 2020.

If you are interested in finding out more about what Commonweal is looking for before you apply, please contact info@commonweal.org.uk.

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