Housing associations pledge homes for Prince William’s homelessness project

A school visit is under way at the glassy, modern Parson Cross library in suburban north Sheffield. Alongside the gaggle of children in fluorescent jackets, there is a flock of journalists – shepherded not by teachers but Kensington Palace press officers.

Inside Housing is part of the ‘royal rota’ of reporters and cameramen who get to observe Prince William on his visit, then pool together their notes. As the prince tours the library, this pulsing mass of reporters is constantly adjusted by his stage managers to ensure the photographers can get the best angles.

Nine months after the prince announced his Homewards project, Tuesday’s event in Sheffield marks a necessary narrowing of scope. When it was launched last year, Prince William said his goal was nothing less than to end homelessness completely. You couldn’t fault the ambition, but you could, perhaps, say the plan needed focus.

In the time since, Homewards has taken the shape of six targeted housing projects, each with £500,000 funding from the prince. In Sheffield, this means 33 family-sized rental homes will be offered to homeless families with wraparound support to help them maintain their tenancy. It’s not going to end homelessness in the city, but the effect on those families could be transformative.

Upstairs in the library, the beaming prince meets Kwajo Tweneboa, a Clarion tenant and one of the UK’s most high-profile housing campaigners. “You’ll tell us where we’re going wrong,” Prince William says.

He strides into the next room, where a workshop is taking place, with posters on the walls and a projector showing an image of the prince. The plan is to brainstorm ideas for the support package that will accompany the Homewards families in Sheffield.

Parents, carers and people who have been homeless are colouring in mood boards. Some of them will then be part of a smaller working group to design the support package, we are told.

“A lot of people think ‘just give people a house, then it’s fixed’,” Prince William says with his low voice, furrowed brow and animated hand gestures. “It’s a lot more than that… Wraparound support is crucial.”

What is clear from the variety of the discussion is that many factors are contributing to Sheffield’s homelessness problem.

People losing their homes in the private rented sector, overcrowding, the cost of living crisis, domestic abuse and mental health are all raised. Adam Yusuf of Homewards Sheffield points out that local authority budgets have had their funding cut.

In the opposite room, Prince William chairs a roundtable with various landlords. Scott Black, chief operating officer at Places for People, says “we can do so much more” to break the “generational cycle of homelessness for the most vulnerable in society”.

“Well, Scott, I’d like to thank you for pledging another 30 houses, then,” the prince jokes.

Ajman Ali, executive director at Sheffield City Council, says there are 4,000 people presenting as homeless in the city. “I spend a lot of my time processing [homelessness] cases,” he says, adding that he hopes Homewards can allow “time to focus more on the prevention side”.

To address something as entrenched as homelessness, it is crucial to understand how multifaceted it is. Yet even at this stage there seems to be a risk that Homewards tries to be all things to all people. Speaking to reporters after the prince had left, Mr Tweneboa was optimistic. “I’m a serial moaner and complainer about these issues,” he says, “so I thought to myself, ‘finally, a solution is being put forward’.”

What Prince William has been able to do, Mr Tweneboa says, is “bring the right people around the table, whether that’s businesses or landlords, but most importantly those who have experienced homelessness. Far too often with initiatives and policies, they aren’t created with the right people around the table… That’s what I really liked.”