The Role of Housing Providers in Sparking and Supporting SI by Margaret Burrell

1. THE ROLE OF
HOUSING
PROVIDERS IN
SPARKING AND
SUPPORTING SI
Margaret Burrell
September 2016

2. 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

3. 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.

4. 1Feb1954
Sept1969
Michael Young’s
vision for the first
University in the air
opens with the aim
of widening access
to higher education
Oct1957
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
April1990
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.
1997
27June1977
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.
April2005
NOWFounded 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

5. CURRENT YOUNG FOUNDATION
VENTURES
Own grown ventures Externally supported ventures
5

6. 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

7. THE ROLE OF HOUSING
PROVIDERS IN SPARKING
AND SUPPORTING SI

8. CONTEXT

9. 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

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. SLEEPING GIANTS SPARKING
AND SUPPORTING SINICK 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

13. CASE STUDY

14. 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

15. 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).

16. 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.

17. 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.
.

18. 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.

19. 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

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

21. INTERMEDIARY
ORGANISATIONS
Intermediary organisations have a vital role in brokering relationships between
housing associations and social entrepreneurs.
.
12
Month
Venture
support
Young
Foundati
on
Metropoli
tanOlmec

24. 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

25. THE MODEL

26. VENTURES – MAXIMISE SOCIAL
IMPACT
26
• 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

27. KEY COMPONENTS OF
INCUBATION
Structured &
intensive support
programme
Sector expertise
NetworksPro bono support
Investment/
Procurement
opportunity
27
Housing
Provider
Intermediary
Organisations

28. KEY COMPONENTS OF
INCUBATION
28
• 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

29. CASE STUDIES

34. KEY FINDINGS

35. 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

36. SUITABLE BUSINESSES FOR
HOUSING PROVIDERS

37. 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.

38. RECOMMENDATIONS

39. WHAT ARE YOUR
RECOMMENDATIONS?

42. 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

44. THANK YOU ANY
QUESTIONS?