Funding to deliver housing models supporting those in the migration, asylum and trafficking systems

Home Partner With Us Call for New Ideas

We are delighted to launch our Call for New Ideas: Migration, Asylum and Human Trafficking

The Call for New Ideas is our invitation to not-for-profits across the UK to come to us with new and imaginative ideas for housing and support models that seek to address a specific social injustice.

Up-to three applicants will receive between £5,000-£10,000 in grant funding. This money is for you to conduct a feasibility study to evaluate your model.

The aim is to work in partnership with you to bring your models to life. It starts with your lightbulb idea, and it finishes, we hope, with a housing and support pilot project running over 5-10 years.

We would support partners throughout the project development stage until the end of its life cycle, including collecting and sharing project learnings to inform best practice and influence policy across the sector.

What is the focus?

For this iteration of Call for New Ideas, we are only looking for ideas that tackle injustice faced by vulnerable migrants, those in the asylum system and survivors of trafficking.

We are especially interested in ideas for housing projects that seek to:

Address transition points between and within systems that drive housing insecurity (such as asylum to refugee status, the NRM lifecycle, unaccompanied minors to adulthood, family reunification, etc.)
Support survivors of trafficking, both non-UK and UK nationals.
Demonstrate possible long term cost savings benefits for the government through focusing on community integration or employability support, as examples.

To help guide our thinking for the Call, we commissioned housing and migration specialist Professor Philip Brown to undertake horizon-scanning research exploring the specific cohorts and key areas where individuals are at greater risk of housing injustice.

The full report can be found here >>

How does it work?

Step 1 - Your ideas

You, as a lone organisation or in partnership with another(s), come up with an idea for a way in which housing and support can help solve a social injustice.

Step 2 – Submission

You submit your proposal using our Application Form and emailing it to apply@Commonweal.org.uk. The application window is Monday 7th October until 5pm Monday 4th November 2024.

Step 3 – Review

Our expert selection panel will review your applications and select up-to three applicants to progress into the feasibility study phase.

Step 4 – Feasibility Study

Successful applicants will use the grant funding to undertake a piece of research to assess the viability of the model financially, operationally, and in terms of the likelihood of addressing the social injustice.

Step 5 – Property-based Pilot Project

If the model proves feasible, we will explore ways for us to work together to deliver a property-based pilot project. This will be done in unison with social investors with the intention for Commonweal to acquire property and deliver the project in partnership with you over a period of 5-10 years.

All applications require a property-acquisition element to be considered.

For full information on the process, please refer to our Information Sheet and FAQ Sheet by clicking here >>

How do I apply?

We are accepting applications for Call for New Ideas: Migration, Asylum and Trafficking from Monday 7th October until 5pm Monday 4th November 2024.

Organisations interested in applying should download the Information & FAQ Sheet to read the full details of the Call and then complete the Application Form and return it by email to apply@commonweal.org.uk.

All resources can be found on this page or downloaded by clicking the link below:

Information and FAQ sheet >>

Application Form >>

Feasibility Study Template >>

What else do I need to know?

What do successful applicants have to say?

Since launching Call for New Ideas in 2020, Commonweal has successfully supported a number of partners through the feasibility stage, with many now entering the project development process.

"The team at Commonweal were fantastic and supported us all the way through the process, providing expert advice, guidance and signposting when needed...

If anyone has an idea to tackle a social injustice and needs support to develop, I strongly suggest that you consider the Call for New Ideas."

- Gaynor Brooke, Head of Services at successful 2022 Call for New Ideas applicant Servol Community Services. Read Servol’s story here

“When we heard about Commonweal Housing’s Call for New Ideas, inviting organisations to apply for funding to test the viability of new housing models, it was enviably an opportunity we felt we have worked towards. Now was the perfect moment to put our work at the forefront of the challenges we know our girls are facing within the criminal justice system”

– Aliyah Ali, CEO at The Daddyless Daughters Project - successful applicant of Call for New Ideas 2023: Criminal Justice. Full blog here

Application Form

Information Sheet

Feasibility Study Template