Ninesh Muthiah, chief executive of Home Connections – the social enterprise at the forefront of joining up services in housing, employment and training said:

‘The measures to help people get on the house buying ladder and those designed to ease unemployment are to be welcomed. But many millions of people rely on rented accommodation and are often caught in a trap where a lack of skills reduces their employability and that leads to an inability to access stable housing which in turn places their employment at risk. It’s a cruel and vicious circle which doesn’t just cause misery but keeps many hard working people out of the labourforce and without a stable home.

We know from nearly a year’s experience of people accessing the Housing Employment Connections Service, that of just under 4000 people looking for rented housing from a local authority or housing association, around 1600 wanted help with jobs and training. While this service is expanding across the country we need to gain speed in providing joined-up services as in London alone we know that worklessness costs more than £5 billion a year1

Forward looking local authorities and housing associations have long embraced joined-up services and they know the benefits to end users as well as local economies. With more housing providers doing likewise across the country there can be real progress in national worklessness numbers. High priority must be given to supporting and incentivising these schemes that are proven to work.’

1

http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/London%20Councils/WorklessnessAuditLondonCouncilsFinal%20(2).pdf