New housing model could help three-quarters of homeless find jobs, half into independent housing while saving half a billion pounds of taxpayer cash a year.
The ‘Freedom2Work’ (F2W) model, designed by homelessness charity Rentstart and sponsored by Commonweal Housing, has been tested in Elmbridge, Surrey and provides supported housing, a matched deposit saving scheme and wrap-around employment support to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
The five-year pilot project has helped to break the cycle of homelessness for dozens, with a staggering three-quarters now in full or part-time employment and almost half living independently in the private rented sector (PRS), (78 percent and 46%, respectively).
The latest data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government showed that a total of 68,250 households were assessed as homeless or at risk of homelessness between January and March 2021. If the Freedom2Work intervention was applied nationally* – and if all 68,250 were eligible for the service – it could theoretically support roughly 53,000 rough sleepers, homeless people and those at risk of homelessness into employment, which equates to 6.5 times the entire UK workforce of sandwich chain Pret A Manger.
With the UK in the midst of its worst worker shortage since 1997, the Freedom2Work model could be instrumental in creating new potential employees by up-skilling and re-skilling workers in in-demand industries. As a result of the F2W employment support measures, such as CV assistance and job-hunting help, clients have jobs in various sectors including IT, retail, construction, manufacturing, hospitality and delivery logistics – all sectors currently under the significant culminative pressure of the pandemic and Brexit.
An initial three-year independent report by De Montfort University published in August 2020 calculated the cost savings that the F2W project had delivered to the public purse to be more than £2 million over the initial three years of operation, or £8,810 per participant, per year.
These savings arise from off-set costs to society associated with the provision of institutional or state services to the homeless population. Through the provision of housing, for example, state costs are reduced, and these are classed as savings as per savings to the public purse.
If the model was applied nationally, it could theoretically amount to savings of £601,282,500 to HM Treasury, enough to pay for an additional 18,000 NHS nurses.
Meanwhile, F2W provides stable and supported housing to its clients, and includes a matched deposit saving scheme where for every £1 a client saves independently, they receive an additional £1 through the match funding scheme.
Using the same data applications, we could see an estimated total of 31,000 homeless people or those at risk of homelessness transition into private rented housing. De Montfort University’s 2020 report found that 39% of clients were housed independently, but in the two years since, 73% of the second cohort are in the private rented sector, demonstrating the significant growth trajectory of the project, made even more impressive by the fact that more than half of them (58%) were rough sleepers.
The five-year Elmbridge project has supported 96 clients in total, and has demonstrated a successful pathway out of homelessness and into employment and independent living.
The key successes of the scheme are summarised below. These are separated between the first 3 years when the initial report by De Montfort University was written and Rentstart’s updated data in the two years since:
| Years 1-3 | Years 4-5 | Total | |
| Number of participants | 77 | 19 | 96 |
| Employment | 47% in part-time or full-time employment | 58% | 78%** |
| Housed in PRS | 39% | 78% | 46% |
| Money saved to public purse | £2,035,159.00 | N/A*** | £2,035,159.00 |
| Money saved per participant, per year | £8,810 | N/A*** | £8,810 |
Ashley Horsey, Chief Executive at housing and social justice charity Commonweal Housing, said: “As Brexit crunches supply chains and the pandemic continues to ravage the job market, there is little doubt that innovative new approaches to plugging the employment gap are urgently required. Freedom2Work answers this question by not only supporting vulnerable people into employment and permanent housing, reversing much of the insecurity that can cripple their standards of living, but delivers astronomical savings to the government at a time of steep national fiscal spending when saving every penny really does count.
“By providing stable, supported housing, employment assistance and a matched deposit saving scheme the Freedom2Work model developed by Rentstart supported and championed by Commonweal has proven that it’s not only possible to help people get back on their feet and into permanent employment and independent housing, but make genuine inroads in breaking the cycle of homelessness.”
Helen Watson, Chief Executive at homelessness charity Rentstart, added: “For the last twenty years Rentstart has relentlessly supported local individuals faced with homelessness to access to the private rented sector. Freedom2Work has been crafted from this experience and is a model which, if replicated, has the potential to transform many lives while saving society millions, as it has done over five years in Elmbridge.
“By working closely with each individual, we have been able to support many people back into independence and a much brighter future. Uniquely, the match funded rent credit element of the project has provided the financial firepower for people to move forward when the time was right. As one client put it, Freedom2Work ‘has made me think, yes, I can.’”
