Deadline: 19-Apr-24
The Commonweal Housing is inviting not-for-profits to devise new and imaginative housing and support model ideas targeted at specific injustices facing young people, with grant funding available for the most original ideas.
Commonweal focuses its projects into three broad thematic policy areas. These are:
- The criminal justice system
- Migration, asylum and human trafficking
- Young people with difficult transitions into adulthood
The Call for New Ideas is exactly that the invitation to not-for-profits across the UK to bring them new and imaginative ideas for housing solutions to social injustice.
The aim is to work in partnership with you to bring your models to life. It starts with your lightbulb moment, and it finishes, they hope, with a housing and support pilot project running for up-to 10 years.
What will they offer to qualifying applicants in return?
- Funding:
- As part of the Feasibility Study, they can offer up-to four applicants between £5- 10,000 grant funding to undertake the research to test the viability of their model.
- This can be used to fund internal or external capacity and expertise to deliver the Feasibility Study.
- They do not have an unlimited budget, and therefore will have an eye on value for money projects.
- The start-to-finish support:
- They offer support, advice and expertise from start-to-finish. This includes:
- Answering any initial questions and running through your idea pre-application
- Support with the Feasibility Study process
- Managing property-acquisition and setting up your project with you
- Ongoing operational support and strategic input
- Commissioning of expert evaluation
- The network of engaged partners in the housing sector, researchers for Feasibility Studies or project evaluations, social investors, existing or past project partners, third sector organisations, local and national policy-makers, and media.
- Communication, policy and replication support from the experienced policy and communications team.
- They offer support, advice and expertise from start-to-finish. This includes:
What are they looking for?
- Imaginative ideas
- They want new housing models that seek to address a social injustice, so that they can test them with you
- The idea should be imaginative – this could be i. the client group; ii. the model; iii. the support element; iv. the location; or a mix of any of the above.
- They are after ideas for models at this stage, the inner workings of the project will be determined later, through the Feasibility Study and with the support
- The model must be aimed at young people over the age of 18 who have had experience of least one of:
- The care system
- Mental health problems or are neurodivergent
- Difficult experiences in the education system, particularly those who faced serial exclusion
- A solid business case:
- All applications must outline the housing and support elements of the model. The application is the first step leading to a full Property-based Pilot Project, so it must detail how this pilot could work should it progress to that stage.
- It must contain details of property-acquisition. Property acquisition is managed by Commonweal, but your application needs to detail the proposed location, number of properties required and how these properties will help support your proposed client group.
- This is important because Commonweal operates by purchasing property and leasing it to the partners at reduced rates, so there must be a financially prudent business case for them to invest in.
- A committed, qualified and enthusiastic partner organisation:
- Partners must be a not-for-profit, but this can include local or combined authorities
- Prospective organisations do not need to be experts in housing or have experience in delivering projects involving housing before, but you will need the capacity to deliver the project if it progresses to that stage. You do need to indicate how you think the project would work in practical terms, including the housing management element of a project, which the partners manage.
- Commonweal funds and commissions evaluation of all of the projects, and therefore they want partners who are committed to evaluating the project, share the learning and, where possible, seek replication.
- They especially welcome applications from BAME-led and BAME-focused organisations.
- This is your project, so they want partners who are as enthusiastic about their housing solution as they are.
What they are not looking for?
- Models that already exist. They want these ideas to be new and original, so please do research around the issue and model that you’re proposing before applying. If something similar exists but what you’re proposing has a different element to it, that is fine, but please make them aware of this and they can discuss with you further.
- Projects that already exist. The Call for New Ideas is for new projects only, and therefore they are not offering additional funding for existing projects.
Eligibility Criteria
- The Call for New Ideas is for frontline organisations who want to manage a housing and support service that will improve the lives of vulnerable people.
For more information, visit Commonweal Housing.