• Domestic abuse in Sheffield affects  20,000 adults and 28,000 children annually
• In 2022 and across the UK, 1.7m women experience domestic abuse
• 23.2% shortfall in bed spaces nationally

Women living in Sheffield and experiencing domestic abuse will be provided with desperately needed safe and stable housing thanks to a new partnership between Sheffield Women’s Aid and the Women in Safe Homes fund. Until now, Sheffield Women’s Aid (SWA) provided emergency refuge spaces only for women experiencing and escaping domestic abuse. However, with this newfound partnership, SWA will extend its services by granting women the opportunity to obtain dispersed supported accommodation, empowering them to embark on the journey of rebuilding their lives. This initiative will play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and stability of women residing in Sheffield who are confronted with domestic abuse.

Believed to be the world’s first gender-lens social impact property fund, the Women in Safe Homes fund is jointly managed by Resonance, a social impact property fund manager renowned for its expertise in UK homelessness property funds, and Patron Capital, the pan-European institutional investor focused on property-backed investments.

The fund was created to address the need for safe, affordable homes for women experiencing homelessness. It achieves this by working in partnership with expert women’s sector and charity housing partners across the UK. These partners play a crucial role supporting women who have been affected by domestic abuse or are leaving the criminal justice system, ensuring they have access to safe and affordable accommodation.

Using capital raised from twenty social impact investors, the fund’s pioneering approach sees it purchase and refurbish properties across the UK. These properties are subsequently leased to the fund’s expert housing partners, who in turn provide secure tenancies to women at risk of homelessness.

From the moment a woman and her family move into their new home, they are given personalised and compassionate support from housing partners so that the process of healing, recovery, and empowerment can begin.

This partnership between the fund and SWA marks the start of the organisation’s move into owning ‘dispersed’ accommodation, adding to its existing refuge portfolio, and directly supporting its overarching ambition to own and provide a variety of accommodation options for women in Sheffield in desperate need of a safe place to live. In line with SWA’s property specifications, the fund is aiming to buy and refurbish 10 properties within the city, primarily consisting of family homes while potentially including one or two one-bedroom units. The fund has already acquired and commenced refurbishment on its initial property designated for SWA, while actively sourcing additional properties to fulfil its commitment.

SWA provides a comprehensive and holistic service of trauma-informed support services for survivors, which includes practical support such as ensuring women access all benefits they are entitled to, helping those without access to public funds to secure leave to remain status and ensuring child contact arrangements are safe and appropriate. Additionally, SWA delivers 1-1 and group support sessions that have a therapeutic focus to aid the recovery process for survivors. During 2022, SWA supported 83 women and 86 children, with 43% of the children falling within the 0-5 age group, underscoring the profound impact of domestic abuse on early childhood development.  Overwhelmingly SWA survivors self-report experiencing mental health needs as a result of their trauma, that can have long-term recovery impact for survivors. The Sheffield Domestic Abuse and Safe Accommodation Strategy highlights domestic abuse affected  20,000 adults and 28,000 children annually and is one of the main reasons for homelessness. This corresponds with the National Women's Aid Annual Audit (2023) reporting there is a 23.2% shortfall in bed spaces nationally, emphasising the critical importance of ensuring survivors have a means to escape to safety.

The Women in Safe Homes fund has successfully raised £29m in total from 20 social impact investors, and is now focused on deployment. It is already in the process of purchasing around 120 homes across the UK, including in Sheffield, to provide housing for over 300 women and their children over the fund’s lifetime. The fund has already acquired, renovated to meet high environmental standards, and handed over around 40 properties to its housing partners. As a result, over 70 women and 33 children have already been housed. The investment raised from the social impact investors is enabling the fund to tackle women’s homelessness, providing safe, good-quality and affordable homes, as well as specialist support, to help transform women’s lives.

The fund also aims to provide a good risk-adjusted financial return from rent and capital appreciation, while achieving substantial positive social impact by supporting women in crisis, facing homelessness.

Across the UK, 1.7m women experienced domestic abuse in 2022, and according to women’s domestic abuse charity, Solace, around 70% of them will have a housing need.

Louise Swinden, Resonance’s Property Fund Manager, said: “I am so pleased that Sheffield Women’s Aid has partnered with the Women in Safe Homes fund. Across the UK far too many women and children are experiencing the awful traumas inflicted on them by domestic abuse perpetrators so we are delighted that in Sheffield now, around ten safe, secure and affordable homes will be provided for the women who need them the most. This partnership is also enabling Sheffield Women’s Aid to not only expand its property portfolio but to also increase options for women living in the city in need of a safe place to live in order to escape their circumstances. Providing women with a safe home of their own alongside the wraparound support they will receive is a crucial step toward helping them recover from traumatic circumstances, and to gain stability so they can start to take control of and create positive lives for themselves. I am also so happy that women will be encouraged to bring their pets with them into their homes – we know that pets bring so much joy and comfort, and that having to leave cherished pets behind can cause women additional trauma and hurt.”

Keith Breslauer, Managing Director of Patron Capital, said:“We are truly privileged to join forces with Sheffield Women's Aid and be part of this transformative partnership. Together, we are spearheading an initiative to address the critical need for safe and stable housing for women facing domestic abuse. By harnessing our expertise in property-backed investments, we are committed to making a profound and lasting impact in the lives of these resilient women and their families. Through the Women in Safe Homes fund, we aim to provide them with not only secure and affordable homes but also the unwavering support and resources offered by SWA. We firmly believe that this collaborative effort will enabling these women to reclaim their lives and create a brighter future for themselves and their loved ones.“

Hollie Venn, Chief Executive, Sheffield Women’s Aid, said: “We partnered with the Women in Safe Homes fund as not only did we hear really positive experiences from other providers at a conference, we valued the gender focused lens of their work.  As a feminist organisation, this was important to SWA to ensure all properties would be specifically for women (and their children) as we see daily the need and demand for accommodation.  We found all the team patient when assisting SWA to work through queries we had as a small charity and guiding us through the accreditation process, to ultimately be accepted as a partner. Being able to increase our accommodation units to provide more safe and secure homes for domestic abuse survivors was the main reason for partnering with the fund – to enable us to reach more survivors than we do currently and within that both save and change lives.”

Sources:

ONS: Domestic Abuse in England and Wales - an overview

Solace Women's Aid