National Housing Federation (Homes at the Heart)

Funding at a glance

Programme: Nurturing Ideas to Change the Housing System
Amount: £42,056 grant
Approved: 2020
Timescale: Three months
Status: Funding complete
Phase: Decent Affordable Homes Phase Two

The Homes at the Heart campaign, run by the National Housing Federation, is a coalition calling for a once in a generation investment of public money in social housing. 


Why we funded this project

Many of the outcomes of the Nationwide Foundation’s funded projects have pointed toward a need for England’s housing system to be rebalanced. This rebalancing includes many changes to the way our housing system works, but it simply can’t be achieved without a commitment to building a new generation of decent, affordable social homes.

Strategic purpose

Promising ideas are implemented at a local, regional and national level.

Project description

Launched in June 2020, the National Housing Federation’s Homes at the Heart campaign made the case that social housing should be at the heart of the nation’s recovery from Covid-19. Boasting over 50 organisations who signed up to support its aims, the campaign makes the case for social homes as the way to prevent people from falling into the traps of poverty and homelessness. What’s more, the campaign argues that public investment has the power to assist the economy in the wake of the global pandemic.

In October 2020, the Nationwide Foundation committed to funding a targeted advertising campaign to raise awareness of the need for social housing among key decision-makers. As well as this, public polling was commissioned highlighting the long-lasting positive impacts of social housing, particularly for the essential workers who have helped drive the response to the pandemic.

The campaign was initially focussed on the government’s Spending Review in November 2020, where funding for social housing was announced as part of the Affordable Homes Programme.

Homes at the Heart

Back to funding 2016–present