Access to Accommodation: Eight New Funding Partnerships

🕒 7 min read

At St Martin-in-the-Fields Charity, we are committed to ensuring everyone has a safe place to call home and the support they need to keep it. One of the ways we work to achieve this goal is by listening to those who work on the frontline of homelessness. Consistently, organisations and frontline workers tell us that there are insufficient housing options for people experiencing homelessness. This remains a huge challenge across the UK. In our 2025 Frontline Worker Survey, 83% of frontline workers said that they found it difficult to access housing that meets the needs of the people they support, with over half (55%) telling us that this situation has worsened in the last year.

As one charity worker in Manchester put it: “It isn’t enough to find housing, it needs to be the right placement, somewhere they feel safe and able to take the next steps in their life such as processing their experiences with specialist support, accessing education and employment, and being part of a community.”

In response to these findings, we created the Access to Accommodation fund. Through conversations with charities, frontline workers and people with lived experience of homelessness, we repeatedly heard the same message: organisations are working hard to develop practical housing solutions, but often lack the resources needed to unlock them.

Through this new programme, we have dedicated over £620,000 to support smaller, community-based charities that are developing new ways to either create or unlock accommodation in their local area. Each has seen a significant demand in their services and as a result have been struggling to access accommodation for those they are working with. By providing flexible funding and working alongside organisations to gather insights and learnings, the fund aims not only to deliver immediate housing but also to help identify solutions that could be replicated more widely across the sector.

We are pleased to announce the first cohort of eight projects supported via the Access to Accommodation fund, each offering a different approach to creating safe, stable housing for people experiencing homelessness. Read on to hear more about the individual projects and the impact we hope to achieve.

Before we get started

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How does the Access to Accommodation Fund Work?

The Access to Accommodation fund is focused on supporting small and grassroots organisations (with an annual turnover of less than £2 million) that are locally embedded within their communities and working directly with people facing homelessness. Organisations have been able to apply for up to £100,000 through the fund, to be used over a maximum of three years.

The fund is designed to unlock or create new housing options for people experiencing homelessness in their communities. The idea is that these projects will deliver direct impact and may also be replicated and scaled more widely. An essential requirement of the funding is that projects must be needs focussed, with involvement of lived experience in the design, development or delivery of the project.

Interest in the fund was high, highlighting both the scale of the challenge and the strength of ideas already being developed across the homelessness sector. We received 89 applications from organisations seeking to unlock new housing options in their communities. Together, these proposals requested over £7 million in funding, underlining the significant gap between need and available resource.

In total, we have committed more than £620,000 to the first cohort of projects. This funding will support a diverse range of services, from bringing empty properties back into use to developing modular homes and expanding community-based refugee hosting schemes.

We are excited to now be able to announce the eight innovative projects we are funding through the Access to Accommodation fund. Whilst these projects are all based in England, our next round of funding will be focussed on applications from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. You can find out more about this next round of funding and apply here.

The Projects We’re Funding: Eight locally-led housing solutions

The projects we’re funding cover a range of approaches, including move-on accommodation, modular housing, refugee hosting, emergency refuge, accessible housing, and support for women with no recourse to public funds. While each project is different, they all aim to provide practical, housing-led solutions that can deliver immediate impact and inform future approaches. All of the projects have been steered by people with lived experience and by listening to the needs of frontline workers.

Herring House Trust – Flat @84 (Great Yarmouth)

• Project focus: Move-on accommodation
• Who it supports: People moving on from hostel accommodation
• Housing created: Three new bedrooms

Herring House Trust is a local charity supporting people experiencing homelessness in Great Yarmouth. For more than 30 years, they have supported people out of homelessness via emergency housing at their hostel and supported accommodation within the community. They also run counselling sessions and help people recovering from substance use at their High Support Unit. Their focus is on providing safe accommodation and tailored support to help people rebuild their lives and move towards independence.

With funding from the Access to Accommodation fund, Herring House Trust will be able to bring a property back into use through the Flat @84 project, creating three new move-on bedrooms for people transitioning from hostel accommodation. This will house between six to eight individuals over the three-year period, providing a vital stepping stone for those who are ready to leave more intensive support settings but not yet ready for fully independent living. The refurbished building will also become a wider community asset, with a separate peer-led community hub on the ground floor.

The project has been designed alongside people who have lived experience of homelessness and will provide valuable learning about peer-led move-on models and coastal housing challenges. It also demonstrates how relatively small-scale property development can have a meaningful and immediate impact.

The Bus Shelter Dorset – Step Forward (Weymouth)

• Project focus: Move-on accommodation linked to work
• Who it supports: People moving out of crisis accommodation and entering work
• Housing created: Two new move-on properties

Established in 2016, The Bus Shelter Dorset provides shelter and support for people experiencing homelessness in Weymouth and the surrounding area, helping individuals move towards longer-term housing and stability. They offer a unique approach, with accommodation in a converted double-decker bus and surrounding self-contained pods, with a communal kitchen, lounge, and dining area to give a sense of community. They also support clients holistically with life skills, mental health and addiction support.

The Step Forward project will expand their housing offer by creating two move-on homes for people leaving crisis accommodation who are entering work and need ongoing support to sustain housing. This project will remove the financial and practical barriers people face when trying to move into employment from supported housing. By linking individuals with training, volunteering, and paid work, they will help rebuild confidence, routine and financial independence.

The Independence Initiative – Helping Hands (Bootle, Liverpool)

• Project focus: Transitional supported accommodation
• Who it supports: People with high risk of homelessness with complex needs
• Housing created: Three new en-suite rooms

The Independence Initiative works with people facing homelessness and complex disadvantage in Bootle and across Liverpool. Their services are designed to support people into recovery, stability and longer-term independence.

Designed by residents and frontline staff in response to a severe shortage of transitional housing in the local community, Phase 1 of the Helping Hands project will develop supported housing options for single men who have had experience with the criminal justice system, histories of substance misuse and are at a high risk of homelessness. It will enable them to move on from crisis situations into more stable accommodation, with ongoing support available as needed. By converting existing space in their community hub, they will be able to create three new en-suite rooms, offering high-quality transitional housing for up to nine people each year.

The project aims to create sustainable routes out of homelessness and reduce the risk of people returning to crisis.

Cowley St John PCC – Cowley Haven Homes (Oxford)

• Project focus: Modular housing
• Who it supports: Individuals and families experiencing homelessness
• Housing created: 4 self-contained modular homes

Cowley St John Parochial Church Council is an inclusive parish community in Oxford, working closely with local partners to respond to homelessness in their area. With strong links to organisations such as The Porch and St Mungo’s, they are located in one of Oxford’s most deprived areas, where homelessness is a visible and urgent issue. Around a third of their congregation are experiencing homelessness and people regularly sleep rough within the church grounds.

With Access to Accommodation funding, this locally-led initiative will transform unused church land into four high-quality, self-contained modular homes. These low-carbon homes will provide stable housing for up to eight individuals and families experiencing homelessness, with wraparound support delivered in partnership with local organisations.

Cornerstone Supported Housing & Counselling – Inclusive Pathways (Durham & Hartlepool)

• Project focus: Accessible housing
• Who it supports: People experiencing homelessness with mobility needs
• Housing created: Two adapted, fully accessible homes

Cornerstone Supported Housing & Counselling provides housing and support for people experiencing homelessness across County Durham and Hartlepool, with a strong focus on community and lived experience. The charity provides food, shelter, community spaces and vocational training for people facing homelessness, helping to build essential life skills.

Their project, called Inclusive Pathways, is all about ensuring that accommodation is built with mobility needs is at the forefront. Their service has encountered a growing need for accessible housing for people experiencing homelessness who also have mobility needs. By adapting two existing properties, Inclusive Pathways will create two fully accessible, self-contained homes for people with mobility issues. Adjustments include structural adaptations such as level access, accessible wet rooms and layout changes like lowered worktops, to support independent living. The result will be a fully accessible ground floor studio apartment in Durham, with its own entrance and access, as well as a second adapted, fully accessible property in Hartlepool, all supported by their experienced staff team.

This project responds directly to a significant gap in accessible accommodation. By sharing detailed learning on design, cost and delivery, it will provide valuable learning to help other organisations improve access and develop similar inclusive housing options, for a group that is often overlooked and can face additional barriers and exclusion in mainstream services.

Zinthiya Trust – Move On Pilot (Leicester)

• Project focus: Move-on accommodation for women fleeing abuse
• Who it supports: Women survivors of abuse with NRPF
• Housing created: 5 bedspaces within a shared property

Established in 2009, Zinthiya Trust works to alleviate poverty and abuse in Leicester and Leicestershire with a particular focus on women from marginalised communities. They provide information, advice and practical support through mentoring, one-to-one sessions and support groups. Their organisation is rooted in lived experience, with the majority of staff and volunteers having previously used their services.

A key part of their work is providing emergency accommodation for women fleeing abuse. With support from the Access to Accommodation fund, Zinthiya Trust’s Move On Pilot will allow the charity to offer additional safe, move-on housing for 30 women survivors of abuse with no recourse to public funds.

Delivered over a three-year period, the project will support women who are no longer eligible for refuge spaces and are at high risk of homelessness. Working in partnership to bring a property into use, the project will offer both housing and structured support to help women rebuild and move towards independence. The five-bedroom property will feature a prayer room and study space. Part of the property will be a separate studio apartment designed to house a mother and child. Alongside housing, wraparound support will be provided, including access to employment, skills training and working towards deposit savings.

The Move On Pilot looks to fill a critical gap for a group who are often excluded from mainstream housing options. It will also build an evidence base for a model that could be replicated more widely to support women with no recourse to public funds.

Refugee Welcome Homes – Lodging Scheme Expansion (Bristol)

• Project focus: Refugee hosting
• Who it supports: Refugees at risk of homelessness
• Housing created: Expansion of their hosting placements

Founded in 2014, Refugee Welcome Homes is a Bristol-based charity that reduces homelessness for refugees by connecting people with a spare room to refugees in need of housing, where they can rent an affordable room for 12-18 months. They provide ongoing support to both hosts and lodgers, with regular meetings designed to help people understand their rights, responsibilities and support their wellbeing. The scheme also fosters supportive relationships, allowing refugees to integrate to the UK and move towards independent living.

Refugees face many barriers to accommodation after they gain refugee status, including a lack of affordable housing, discrimination from landlords, lack of knowledge of the UK rental market and limited access to social housing. Refugee Welcome Homes aims to address these barriers through their innovative Lodging Scheme.

This funding will expand this scheme, increasing the number of hosts and placements they offer while also strengthening the support available throughout each placement. It will also support the development of a practical framework to help other charities set up similar schemes, sharing comprehensive learnings. By developing a clear, evidence-based model, it offers strong potential for replication in other parts of the UK.

Women’s Aid Luton – Rapid Refuge (Luton)

• Project focus: Emergency refuge
• Who it supports: Women and children fleeing domestic abuse
• Housing created: One emergency housing pod for short-term stays

One of the first women’s refuges to be set up in England, Women’s Aid Luton has over 50 years of experience supporting women and children fleeing domestic abuse. Their services include practical help, emotional support and safe temporary accommodation, to help individuals and families rebuild their lives in safety. In 2024/25 they supported 925 women, with 59 housed across their five Luton-based refuges.

The Rapid Refuge project will install a new self-contained emergency housing pod within the secure grounds of an existing refuge, and will include a bathroom, kitchenette and sleeping area. This will provide immediate, short-term accommodation for women and children who cannot access refuge spaces at the point of crisis, expected to help up to 30 women and 20 children per year. Those who use the service will then be supported into longer-term refuge or appropriate housing.

This project fills a critical gap between immediate crisis and longer-term refuge provision, designed to prevent street homelessness or the return to an abusive partner. As a new approach within the domestic abuse sector, it will be evaluated and shared more widely to inform future emergency housing models.

Learning from Locally-Led Housing Solutions

One of the reasons the Access to Accommodation fund was established is so that we can test projects and approaches that may have the opportunity for wider scale and impact. Alongside funding, we will be convening peer networks to promote good practice and effective housing solutions that are rooted within communities across the sector as part of our wider influencing work. The programme will also work with an external learning partner to capture insights and understand what works in different contexts, and this will help shape future funding priorities.

We will share learning from across the homelessness sector, with the aim of supporting wider adoption of effective approaches. This includes exploring models such as peer-led housing, modular homes, refugee hosting frameworks and accessible housing adaptations.

By building a clearer evidence base, we hope to support the development of practical, replicable solutions that can be adapted and scaled to meet the growing demand for safe, stable housing.