Our new service launched in November 2008 has gone from strength to strength. It has created dynamic linkages between on the one side tenants’ housing and living choices and on the other their wider working/well-being aspirations. Camden one of the 12 local authority trailblazers has integrated our service into their evolving enhanced housing options approach. It links those using choice-based lettings (CBL) schemes, Homeseekers, directly to employment services and information, advice and guidance or IAG. It demonstrates how CBL can be used as a conduit to plug users into a network of employment services that were not previously on their radar. It provides connections to information and advice on employment and training opportunities, in-work benefits and anti-poverty approaches.

London Borough’s of Camden, Barnet, Haringey, Islington and Peabody Housing Trust are all live and reaping the benefits of this new approach. The project went live in November and by mid January 2009 across 4 councils and a london wide RSL over 2,500 home seekers have engaged with the service by completing an online survey about employment services. Of this number, 1,500 are workless and over 1,000 of these homeseekers have requested help with jobs and training. We have had over 1,400 hits on the jobs pages (we serve 60% of London’s entry level vacancies through the site). We are gradually expanding the range and geography and plan to have a national database of jobs ready in the coming months.

When an applicant accesses the CBL portal to look for available properties they complete a questionnaire which assesses their employment and training needs. HECs acts as a gateway submitting their details to Information Advice and Guidance organisations and learning and skills providers. We have developed a strong working partnership with a range of such providers across the south east:

• Tomorrows People
• Camden Working
• Women Like Us -
• Communities into Training
• Department of. Work & Pensions
• Relay London
• The Haringey Guarantee
• Housing Support Team Barnet
• Job Centre Plus (JCP)
• DirectGov ‘Get On’
• Learn Direct
• Apprenticeships

Jobs feeds are integrated into the Homeseekers CBL account and they can search for jobs either by keyword or location. Homeseekers preferences are saved and monitored to provide a comprehensive picture and inform evaluation and future development:

A range of communication activity has taken place and is planned around our new approach

• Speech at Housing Corporation “Worklessness Summit” March 2008
• Keynote address at Communities and Local Government “National CBL Conference” October 08
• Keynote speech at Westminster Briefing Conference “More Than Just Bricks and Mortar: Social Landlords and their Role in Tackling Tenant Worklessness” November 08
• Featured in Inside Housing on Worklessness and the Worklessness Toolkit by Helen Cope author of the Tackling Worklessness Toolkit