THE ROLE OF HOUSING PROVIDERS IN SPARKING AND SUPPORTING SI Margaret Burrell

September 2016

OVERVIEW

1.The Young Foundation

2. Housing Context

3.Metropolitan – Migrant Social

Entrepreneurship – Case Study

4.Young Foundation Venture support model

5.Case Studies

6.Key findings

7.Recommendations

THE YOUNG FOUNDATION

• We believe inequality undermines the

economy and corrodes our wellbeing, leaving

its mark on communities

• The Young Foundation is working to create a

more equal and just society, where each

individual can be fulfilled in their own terms.

We work with the public and private sectors

and civil society to empower people to lead

happier and more meaningful lives

Michael Young, Founder (1915 – 2002)

• Recognised as one of the world’s most

creative and influential social innovators and

visionaries.

• Pioneered the field of social innovation with

The Open University, UpRising and Studio

Schools.

1 F

eb

19

54

Se

pt

19

69

Michael Young’s

vision for the first

University in the air

opens with the aim

of widening access

to higher education

Oc

t 1

95

7

Michael created

the Consumers’

Association, the

precursor to

Which? To help

consumers tackle

the issues that

matter to them

Michael Young, 'the world's most successful entrepreneur of social enterprises,’ for

his role in creating over 60 new organizations worldwide, Professor Daniel Bell,

Harvard University. THEN

Ap

ril 19

90

Initially covering just four languages, Language

Line was first set up to enable communication

between patients and staff at the Royal London

Hospital in East London. The local police on

the Isle of Dogs then requested 24 hours a day

coverage in 16 languages.

Language Line Services’ Telephone

Interpreting and Translation Services grew

rapidly throughout the 1990s, and the company

is now part of the largest Interpreting company

worldwide providing 170 languages.

19

97

27

Ju

ne

19

77

Michael Young

creates the Mutual

Aid Centre to

assist citizens in

taking

control over their

lives

Named after Michael Young and formed

through the merger of his two organisations,

The Institute for Community Studies and

Mutual Aid Centre.

Michael Young left a remarkable legacy of

ideas and institutions which had an enormous

impact on the day-to-day lives of the millions of

people who use them and on how we think

about our society.

Over the next fifty years the Young Foundation,

as a centre for social innovation and

entrepreneurship, hopes to have an equally

profound impact.

Ap

ril

20

05

NOW Founded by

Michael Young

vehicle for social

research and action

and enterprise.

Through which he

created over 60

organisations and

published hundreds of

reports and books on

social justice, equality,

and policy.

Family and

kinship in East

London. First

published in 1957,

this vivid and

touching picture of

family life in the

East End of the

1950s is one of the

great pioneering

works of modern

sociology.

55+ YEARS OF ACHIEVEMENT

CURRENT YOUNG FOUNDATION

VENTURES

Own grown ventures

Externally supported ventures

5

RESEARCH – THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

• Coined the term “Social Impact Bond”

• First comprehensive analysis of social investment market

• Cutting edge insights into the reality of social need

6

THE ROLE OF HOUSING PROVIDERS IN SPARKING AND SUPPORTING SI

CONTEXT

HOUSING CRISIS

• England is in the grip of a housing crisis.

• We need to be building around 240,000

homes a year simply to meet future

demand

• However the average number of builds

over the last 10 years is just shy of

140,000

• The ramifications are most acute for the

poorest in our society, marked increase

in those on the social housing waiting

lists since 2000

HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS

• Housing associations are private, non-

profit making organisations that provide

low-cost “social housing" for people in

need of a home.

• There are 17000 registered in the UK

• Any trading surplus is used to maintain

existing housing and to help finance new

homes.

• They are the UK’s major providers of new

housing for rent, while many also

run shared ownership schemes to help

those who cannot afford to buy a home

outright.

• During the recession housing

associations have built around half the

homes being built in England.

CHALLENGES FACING HOUSING ASSOCIATION • 2010 social housing grant was cut

by two thirds and grant funding for

new social rented homes ended.

Welfare reforms

Further restricting housing benefit

levels

Benefit cap

Direct payments of housing benefit

to social tenants

• Yet, affordable housing delivery has

not fallen as many predicted:

housing associations are still

building around 45,000 affordable

homes a year currently, plus

around 5,000 ordinary market

homes.

SLEEPING GIANTS SPARKING AND SUPPORTING SI NICK TEMPLE 2014

• There 17000 registered in the UK with a combined annual spend of £13bn

• Motives include - create employment for their tenants, deliver wider community benefit, and improve service delivery for their tenants

• Housing associations and social enterprises are both working for the benefit of the community and in many instances, its poorest residents -Mark Richardson, author of the Green Light report

• Housing associations can do a lot both with and for social enterprises.

• Encouraging entrepreneurial tenants to start up with support, advice and money.

• Procuring and commissioning from local social enterprises.

• Setting up new social enterprises to address unmet needs, or spinning out existing services into social enterprises.

• Absorbing, integrating and backing local social enterprises to help them be more stable and achieve more impact.

• Localism Act, Green Deal, Right to Provide & Social Value Act

CASE STUDY

METROPOLITAN

• Metropolitan is one of the UK’s leading providers of affordable housing and

care and support services.

• They own and manage a large portfolio of nearly 38,000 homes and serve

more than 71,000 customers across London, the East Midlands and the East

of England.

• They have a development pipeline which is on track to deliver new homes at a

rate of 1,000 a year by 2017/18.

• They deliver care and support to customers with a wide range of needs,

specialising in providing services for older people, services for people with

mental health issues, and ‘short stay’ services which provide intensive support

for short periods.

• They are a member of the National Housing Federation and the g15, which

represents London’s 15 largest housing associations and houses one in 10

Londoners

OVERVIEW

• March 2012 The Young Foundation, Metropolitan,

and Olmec came together to develop a 12-month

programme of support for migrant social

entrepreneurs.

• The Young Foundation and Olmec designed and

delivered support programmes to over 60 migrant

social entrepreneurs and enterprises through two

programmes:

• FSISE (First Steps in Social Enterprise)

and CLIMB (Community Level Investment for

Migrant Businesses).

WHY METROPOLITAN?

• Metropolitan’s roots are as a housing

association, set up to provide good

quality, affordable housing for

immigrants from the West Indies.

• This legacy led them to set up the

Migration Foundation.

• Tapping into this history was central to

why Metropolitan partnered with Olmec

and The Young Foundation to support

migrant social entrepreneurs in London

and Nottingham.

BRIEF – WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS?

• The Migration Foundation asked The Young Foundation to speak to a wide

range of existing and potential migrant from - pre-start-ups to established

organisations

• This group consisted of:

- migrated as adults

- refugees

- students and

- economic migrants.

.

RESULTS - RESILIENCE

• Confident, adaptable, resilient individuals who are striving to create social

impact in either their geographical community or community of interest.

• All are building upon the skills and experiences

they possess, ranging from teaching and journalism

to cooking and crafts.

• Their journey into social entrepreneurship was

aided by the social capital they had built up.

• Reach into their community and

connections with agencies like the local authority.

BARRIERS

Similar to those faced by British-born social entrepreneurs e.g struggle to

develop effective relationships with key decision-makers such as

commissioners but may be exacerbated

Barriers

Prejudice

Unrecognised Qualifications

Language Skills

Barriers

COMMUNITY LEVEL INVESTMENT FOR MIGRANT BUSINESSES (CLIMB) 12 month programme

INTERMEDIARY ORGANISATIONS Intermediary organisations have a vital role in brokering relationships between

housing associations and social entrepreneurs.

.

12 Month

Venture support

Young Foundati

on

Metropolitan Olmec

OUTCOMES

Successes in enabling the enterprises to:

• communicate effectively in English

• establish appropriate formal legal and governance

structures

• expand their networks through mentoring and

other informal introductions and relationships

• clearly understand and articulate their service

offering to the housing associations

• raise their own aspirations and expectations for

growth

• become role models within their own resident

communities to develop a track record of delivery

THE MODEL

VENTURES – MAXIMISE SOCIAL IMPACT

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• The Young Foundation are focused on supporting social ventures that are

ready to grow. We are looking for entrepreneurs with a great social business

idea that they can demonstrate works.

• We identify, support and grow high potential ventures that will change

peoples lives for the better in the areas linked to the Young Foundation’s

themes

• We helped ventures in three main ways:

o Business advice and support

o Access to valuable networks (including potential investors and customers)

o Introduction to Housing Provider

KEY COMPONENTS OF INCUBATION

Structured & intensive support

programme

Sector expertise

Networks Pro bono support

Investment/ Procurement opportunity

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Housing Provider

Intermediary Organisations

KEY COMPONENTS OF INCUBATION

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• Systematic programme that addresses each aspect of the business model and investment process

Structured & intensive support

programme

• Drawing on our wider work in social innovation provides entrepreneurs access to leading experts in relevant fields, such as health, housing and youth transitions

Sector expertise

• Partnering with intermediaries and investors focused at both ends - start-up and scale - to refer ventures into the Accelerator and then support their progress onwards.

Collaboration

CASE STUDIES

KEY FINDINGS

All parts of housing associations (beyond simply community development teams) benefit from engaging with social enterprise.

Social enterprises are often small and other housing association departments, such as procurement or finance, do not come into contact with them regularly

Internally, housing associations need champions to promote social enterprise and break down silos between departments.

Partnership programmes with intermediaries have the potential to raise the aspirations and capabilities of the social entrepreneurs, enabling them to develop a track record and create local success stories.

Housing Providers have an important role to play in leading the work with engaging social enterprises

A collective approach is required from intermediary organisations and social ventures

SUITABLE BUSINESSES FOR HOUSING PROVIDERS

VENTURES SUITABLE FOR HOUSING PROVIDERS These included:

• grounds and property maintenance

• cleaning, gardening, landscaping

• managing or owning local assets such as community centres

• childcare

• training

• I.T., software and web development

• social care

• digital community engagement

There was a clear market for these services and Metropolitan was keen to

procure them from social enterprises.

RECOMMENDATIONS

WHAT ARE YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS?

GOLD, SILVER & BRONZE

Bronze: • Annual networking events with supply chain, linking existing Housing Provider contractors with smaller social enterprises

Silver • Annual Social Value Conference bringing together social enterprises with local authorities and those bodies spending public money, to discuss how to unlock social value for local communities

Gold • Housing Providers written policy/code of conduct on social value commissions and procurement

THANK YOU ANY QUESTIONS?