East Street – Housing for Care Leavers

Organisation: Habitat for Humanity Great Britain
Project: East Street – Housing for care leavers
Location: Barking & Dagenham

Turning empty space into homes for care leavers

Starting in 2019, Habitat for Humanity Great Britain worked with the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham to convert the unused upper floor of a high-street property into good-quality, affordable accommodation for young people leaving care.

At the time, accommodation was one of the biggest concerns for local care leavers as they moved towards independent living. The council also had a number of redundant commercial spaces near shopping areas that offered potential for residential conversion.

The project

The ground floor remained in use as a shop, while the derelict upper floors were leased to Habitat for Humanity GB during renovation. The team acted as project manager across feasibility, planning, detailed design and construction, designed the scheme through planning, managed the refurbishment fit-out and provided on-site training for disadvantaged young people.

Fundraising secured £105,000 from LandAid and SEGRO, alongside a social loan from Big Issue Invest. The completed upper floor created shared accommodation for three young care leavers. Following completion in September 2019, Children’s Services managed the homes and provided transitional support to residents.

Impact

• Three safe, decent and affordable places to live for young care leavers
• A practical pilot for converting underused commercial space
• On-site training that built confidence and work-readiness for young people with learning difficulties
• Learning that informed later Empty Spaces to Homes projects and this toolkit

The project demonstrated what can be achieved when public assets are retained, invested in and managed through a strong partnership.