The Homeless Taskforce
The Homeless Task Force was established as a project under the Faith and Public Life department of the Archbishops’ Council, following a unanimous vote at General Synod to tackle homelessness.
The purpose of the HTF is to prevent homelessness through provision of affordable rented housing, and operates by sourcing private sector expertise and assistance from selected individuals or companies whose ethos ties in with the vision and values of the Coming Home report.
The HTF is led by Andrew Gray, and up to now, they have been working on sourcing offers of long term finance for major housing development sites, primarily from pension funds.
Increasingly, the HTF is involved in bringing together key stakeholders to deliver projects such as:
Three small homes that provide ‘move-on’ accommodation for working people who have been in supported housing but are now ready to live independently. The site is an old church hall in Ipswich.
Redeveloping a redundant church building in northern England to provide 30 new homes. Planning has been approved in principle, and the housing will provide specialist accommodation for military veterans as part of homeless prevention work. This has opened up a dialogue with the Ministry of Defence to explore other opportunities to scale up this work.
The HTF has also secured and offer of planning and development finance for seven sites in North/NE of England, and a pilot site in the Midlands, which will provide 30-40 homes. There is the prospect of follow on funding if the pilot site is successful.