VIDEO: Barking and Dagenham Council partner with Habitat for Humanity GB to transform empty flats for young people leaving care.

Barking and Dagenham councillors including the Deputy Leader Councillor Saina Ashraf, yesterday joined members of Habitat for Humanity GB charity on Gale Street.

The charity were proud to display their new workshop where old office furniture is being renovated to give to young people. The workshop is based at a disused council property in Dagenham and will provide youngsters the opportunity to not only to learn new skills, but to also access furniture needed for their homes.

In 2019, Habitat for Humanity GB piloted a workshop in partnership with Barking and Dagenham Council, to transform redundant vacant above-shops into high quality flats for young people leaving the care. Building on the success of this pilot, Habitat for Humanity, in partnership with M&G plc, has set out on an ambitious new plan that showcases how empty spaces around the country have the potential to contribute to solving UK’s housing crisis.

The ‘Empty Spaces to Homes Toolkit’, was launched yesterday (Thursday 15 June) and highlighted the role empty commercial spaces can play in increasing the number of available social housing, and the practical experience Habitat and other organisations have gained converting these spaces into welcoming homes.

The Empty Spaces to Homes Toolkit sets out guidance for organisations to run their own empty spaces project locally. The toolkit is designed for organisations who while experts in supporting their target groups, are not experienced in capital projects, from identification, to financing, community consultation, legal and construction project management. This work has been further supported by developing the “Empty Space Spotter” App sponsored and developed by M&G plc to address the lack of availability of data on empty spaces across

 This fantastic event also discussed the role UK’s civil society can play in addressing housing poverty, exploring how charities, community groups, and local government partners, who are struggling to find decent affordable housing to accommodate the communities and residents they serve, can use this model to create new homes from empty properties. 

Well done to Habitat For Humanity GB who are an incredible charity providing such important work in our community and Barking and Dagenham Council for their partnership in this project. Together, they are able to help many young people in desperate need of homes.

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