I was lucky enough to be a part of the Alchemy workshop at Coventry City Council, where I shared with some really committed Local Authority commissioning staff the opportunity to focus on a specific problem for a full day… without too many interruptions!

With the support of both legal and financial experts, we broadened the discussion “outside the box”, brainstorming the availability and use of Social Income funding and LA pension funding to invest in social housing solutions, as well as how business and landlord monitoring could be incentivised to reduce or contain the spiral into homelessness, and reduce the emergency short term costs, family breakdown and the attendant additional social care service costs. Alternative housing provision and solutions flowed; student accommodation approaches, loft grants, garage conversions, eco build and skill/employment projects, existing market purchase investment for local social provision… to name but a few.

The discussion was refreshing, fast paced and enabled a realisation that alternative forms of social and business funding are available, at scale, for the right plan. The most significant element had to be that, at the end of the “workshop”, the discussion we had just “co-produced”, a contract outline capable of being completed and financed within weeks, was truly invigorating. It most certainly can be done.