£100,000 Legacy Funding for transitional housing for young people
The council has confirmed that a Telford 50 Legacy Fund grant of £100,000 will be made available to YMCA Wellington to support the development of 13 units of affordable transitional housing for young people.
The concept of transitional housing provides affordable homes and support for young people living independently for the first time, as well as those moving on from supported housing.
The transitional housing concept was developed by a number of YMCAs and is successful in the other parts of the country supporting young people.
The Telford 50 Legacy funding will be subject to a detailed grant agreement and is conditional on YMCA Wellington securing additional funding to enable the project to go ahead.
The key features of transitional housing are:
•To meet the needs of young adults as they start out with the intention that they will then move into the mainstream housing market as tenants or owner-occupiers, usually within 1-2 years
•Setting affordable rent levels at no more than 80% of market rates
•Providing low level support and additional management.
The transitional housing is not intended to be a long-term home, but rather to be a secure “stepping stone” for young people to start on a career and gain a positive experience of holding a tenancy, so enabling them to progress to the private rented sector or home ownership.
YMCA Wellington say there is an unmet need among local young people and this scheme would help to address the issue.
The council’s Telford 50 Legacy Funding will help YMCA Wellington with the costs of development, but also help secure other funding opportunities available to them.
The accommodation would contain 13 units of high quality self-contained accommodation. This would also bring an empty building back into use.
Mandie Mulloy, Chief Executive Officer of YMCA Wellington said: “We are pleased the Council is supporting our transitional housing scheme. The grant is an important milestone in helping us secure the funding to make the scheme a reality. The new housing will be a valuable addition to YMCA’s work to tackle the housing needs of young people in the town. We are thrilled to continue our long-standing partnership work with the local authority in this way during our 160th year of operating in the local community.”
Haydn Griffiths, Vice Chair of YMCA Wellington said: “It is excellent that Telford and Wrekin Council appreciates the sterling work that YMCA Wellington does by providing this grant. The grant will support the provision of accommodation and support for young adults. The accommodation will be for young people in YMCA’s care when they are ready to move on to unsupported living, but with a support network in case they need it.”
Cllr Richard Overton, Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing and Enforcement said: “It is important to provide suitable support and accommodation to those in need, and younger people are one of the groups who find it particularly hard to get set up in accommodation.
“The Telford 50 Legacy Fund will help YMCA Wellington to progress this project and open the doors to further funding opportunities.
“The increasing number of young people who need help and support will always be an issue in the current climate and the Telford 50 Legacy Fund will help towards providing a solution.”
The £2 million Telford 50 Legacy Fund supports a mix of physical schemes as well as other projects that help tackle key social issues in the borough and reduce demand on council services.
Details of all legacy projects are on www.telford50.co.uk
