Women leaving prison with no home to return to is a leading cause of homelessness amongst women: 50% of women leave prison without a settled home to return to. These women are often also experiencing complex issues - for example, 50% of women in prison have experienced domestic abuse. The Women in Safe Homes fund partnered with Nacro - an organisation with over 50 years’ experience and a track record of helping 32,000 people each year - to support women prison leavers, who often have complex and intersectional needs, with their next steps. One of these women is Lisa*.  

Lisa came into Nacro’s Community Accommodation Service (CAS-2) which provides housing for people who do not have a suitable place to live for the term of their licence or Bail Order – whilst she was pregnant and coming into her third trimester. Due to her pregnancy, arrangements were made for Lisa to live in a two-bedroom Nacro property on her own, in Kent. These properties are held to a high standard: £1.1m has been invested in refurbishing and upgrading the fund’s properties, and 96% of women agreed that their home has been suitable to their needs.   

Lisa had a history of substance misuse and mental health issues and was prescribed medication for both. This is unfortunately a reality for many of the women living in the fund’s homes - 68% of the women are experiencing poor mental health, and 37% are experiencing drug and/or alcohol misuse. Whilst she was initially engaged with support services, there was a slight blip during Lisa’s stay when she admitted to using substances. Her support worker worked with social services, substance misuse and probation services to discuss this and make further support arrangements.  

Lisa’s baby was due around the same date as her eligibility for this housing ceasing, so a special request was made to HM Prison and Probation’s contract management team to allow her to have a short extension so that she could have her baby and then secure move on accommodation. 

During Lisa’s stay in this property, safeguarding and child services conversations surrounding the unborn baby took place with an initial plan for the baby to go into foster care once born. Thankfully, after lots of multi-agency working, Lisa’s baby remained with her, and she was successfully placed into a mother and baby unit in Essex. 

About NACRO 

Women housed by Nacro access the homes upon leaving prison. Almost half (44%) of women housed in the fund have been involved in the criminal justice system, reflecting the high volume of prison leavers who are housed by Nacro. Women leaving prison are supported by Nacro in numerous ways to live in their home for up to four months.  James Lovell, Cas-2 contract Compliance and Performance Manager at NACRO, explains the complex needs of many prison leavers: “Some women are so traumatised by multiple, negatively impacting life experiences that they struggle to comply with their bail/licence conditions and revert to their lifestyles when previously in the community. Across the national CAS-2 provision we support around 100 women-only bed spaces, and includes the women housed in the nine properties purchased by the Women in Safe Homes fund.” 

Women who were prison leavers and housed by Nacro were most likely to experience additional needs such as mental ill- health and drug and alcohol use. This reflects the high level of multiple disadvantages experienced by women involved in the criminal justice system.  

About the Women in Safe Homes fund 

About the Women in Safe Homes fund 

The Women in Safe Homes fund is a gender-lens impact investment property fund helping address the housing crisis for women escaping domestic abuse, leaving the criminal justice system without a home to go to and at risk of or experiencing homelessness. It was launched in December 2020 as a joint venture of Resonance and Patron Capital because there is a chronic shortage of safe, decent and affordable housing for women at risk of and experiencing homelessness. 

In 2024, 1.6 million women in the UK experienced domestic abuse, one of the leading causes of women’s homelessness.

The fund raised £29m from over twenty impact investors and has now closed, focusing on deployment, and has so far purchased 111 properties for its eight housing partners. So far, over 450 women and children have been housed by the fund.

*Name changed 

Read the latest social impact report here