We are delighted to share the Women in Safe Homes Fund’s latest social impact report, for 2024/25, and are proud of the outcomes being achieved by the fund for women, children and its housing partners so far, including these three key milestones:

• 122 properties purchased and full deployment of the fund
• Over 500 women & children housed and supported by housing partners
• 100% of housing partners’ full property portfolios purchased

Read the Women in Safe Homes Social Impact Report 2024/25, HERE.

Since the fund launched five years ago, and as of 31 March 2025, 511 women and children have been housed and supported, some of whom have moved on into other accommodation. And during the last year, April 2024 – March 2025, 189 women and 143 children have been living in the fund’s homes and receiving support to create brighter futures for themselves – this is a 66% increase on the year before.

Three cohorts of women are being housed by the fund:

• Women who have experienced domestic abuse
• Women who have been involved in the criminal justice system
• Women who have experienced trafficking and exploitation

However, there is overlap across women’s experiences and needs, many of which are complex and multiple.

Our quantitative and qualitative data is now suggesting that the combination of a safe and appropriate home alongside support from the housing partner is enabling many of the women to start to recover from their experiences and achieve the outcomes they are seeking:

• 91.5% reported positive impact on their wellbeing/life outcomes
• 95% agreed they felt safe in their home
• 95% agreed their home was suitable to their needs
• 96% agreed their home has helped them access the support they need
• 91% agreed their home has helped them recover from some past experiences
• 92% agreed their home has helped to build their confidence

One of the outcomes that has shown significant improvement on last year relates to employment: 27% of women have made progress in one or more employment related outcome, reflecting the impact of longer-term tenancies and the opportunity for more time to rebuild lives.

Positive outcomes for children

“I feel very happy and pleased to have a place I can call home. We have so much space now and my son has his own bedroom where he can enjoy playing with his toys.” Elsa, tenant.

Positive outcomes are also being created for children living in the fund’s home. Housing partners reported a range of outcomes for children including increased access to health, mental health and children’s services, settled engagement in schools and increased wellbeing and confidence. The journeys, experiences and outcomes for children will be explored in more depth in next years’ report, following the introduction of a new monitoring and evaluation framework for children.

Working with partners

The fund is also strengthening its relationships with housing partners – in part through its twice-yearly Housing Partner Forums that are proving to be an effective way of bringing partners together to create a strong network, a valuable way of fostering peer learning and support and an opportunity for influencing the wider sector and

systems in which they operate. And by working together as a collective voice, the fund and its partners have become more active in lobbying for system change and influencing policy this year, as part of its wider strategy and intent on increasing systemic impact.

“Thanks to this opportunity from the Women in Safe Homes fund, we were able to expand our services to include a cluster of dispersed, safe accommodations units which offered greater flexibility, privacy, and safety for survivors and their families at a time when they needed it most.” Jayne Gentry, Director of Operations, Safer Places

This year the fund also continued making good progress in its delivery of good quality, energy-efficient homes to its partners. In December 2024, the final target number of 122 properties had been approved with all these properties purchased for its housing partners by March 2025. Six partners also saw their full property portfolios handed over to them by this date. The remaining properties for two partners are currently being refurbished and will be handed over during summer 2025.

Looking forward

The fund’s partnership model is clearly delivering real and lasting benefits to women and housing partners. It is also beginning to generate ripple effects and changes in wider systems. Future priorities include:

• Continuous learning about and fostering trauma-informed practices across the fund and its ecosystem modelling the housing partners’ approach
• Strengthening direct advocacy and lobbying for sustainable funding, women fleeing domestic abuse first housing and systemic reform where possible
• Continuing to support partner organisations’ financial sustainability and growth
• Deepening the integration of children’s needs into service and housing models
• Exploring mechanisms to track long-term outcomes beyond initial housing placement including drivers for successful move-ons
• Exploring how tenants engage with services and its correlation with the outcomes

And over its lifetime, the fund aims to house over 2,300 women and children, providing them with safe and stable homes and the bespoke, wraparound support they need to create positive futures for themselves.