‘Starts at Home’ highlights value and importance of supported housing
Posted on 31 August 2021
What is Starts at Home?
Back in 2015, the government announced it was changing the funding model of supported housing. These changes would make it more difficult for the sector to build the much-needed new supported housing schemes and it risked the closure of critically important existing schemes. In response, the NHF created Starts at Home with its members, as a moment and story for supported housing.
What has the campaign achieved?
Over the last five years, the Starts at Home campaign has made some amazing achievements. These include building a cross-party base of political champions to visit schemes and share their support on social media and successfully encouraging a record number of MPs to attend the Westminster Hall supported housing debate back in 2017. In addition, in 2018, the government reversed its proposed funding cuts ensuring that housing associations could continue to build supported housing for those who needed it.
Starts at Home in 2021
On Friday, 3rd September, we will be sharing stories and examples of the amazing work of our Housing division on social media @SouthdownHA (facebook and twitter).
Do follow us to be part of the conversation and share our posts to spread the word on the value and importance of supported housing. You can also see what other organisations are saying by following #StartsAtHome. Neil Blanchard, our Chief Executive, says:
“Southdown’s mission is to provide the people we support with opportunities to live their lives to the full. We believe that access to safe, secure and affordable accommodation, alongside the time, space and personalised support to address any personal challenges, enables people to move forward and make positive changes to their lives.
Despite increasing demand for quality and affordable supported housing provision, particularly after the impact of the pandemic, it is a shame that national and local support and funding for supported housing has been so challenged and eroded over recent years. We are proud and committed to lobby for the continued recognition of the benefits of the supported housing model, with increases not only in capital grant, but equally and perhaps more importantly, matched linked revenue funding. During the recent pandemic, life pressures and concerns for our supported housing tenants have been immense. Despite all the challenges, our housing management and property services teams, with the additional input of our support staff, were able to maintain core services and so often go the extra mile to ensure that every tenant was treated as an individual. Even when we were not able to meet in person, staff kept in regular contact and ensured everyone was safe and connected. For me, this is the true value and testament of the benefits of supported housing, and our own staff, providing a true safety net for some of the most vulnerable in our communities.”
For more information on our Housing activities visit our website here. For more information on Starts At Home visit the NHF’s dedicated website.
