About us

The National House Project is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, established in August 2018 as part of phase two of the Department for Education (DfE) Innovation Programme.

How we started

The first Local House Project was established in Stoke-on-Trent as part of phase one of the DfE Innovation Programme. Phase two saw the development of projects in Islington, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Rotherham and Doncaster and the creation of; an evidence base, resources and financial modelling to support roll out to interested local authorities post March 2020.

I’d compare the House Project to a tree; we’ve planted it and we’re growing up. We’re all together and we’re all going up.

YP Stoke House Project

Continuing to grow

All six projects continued beyond the pilot phase and are supporting subsequent cohorts of young people. New projects have been initiated in Wolverhampton, Manchester, Lancashire, West Sussex, Coventry and in partnership with Life Changes Trust we have established projects in Fife, Midlothian and East Dunbartonshire.

In 2022 we established House Projects in Greater Manchester on a collaborative basis. As part of the Covid Recovery Build Back Better Programme, Wolverhampton secured funding to establish a further 4 House Projects in the West Midlands. We are currently working with Wolverhampton and the four Local Authorities to establish these over the next few months. Several more local authorities are in the process of securing agreement to establish new projects.

A third phase of DfE funding in 2020 focused on enhancing the infrastructure to support scaling and monies were provided to establish a support platform that can be rolled out to every local authority, accessible to all their care leavers, regardless of whether they have a Local House Project or not. Local authorities will be able to share local information and engage with their care leavers as well as provide a virtual space for mentoring and a messenger function. The platform is now available and free for the first year. We are hoping that this will remain a free service but if this is not possible the cost will be minimal.

Realising Success

Being part of a Project has supported young people to gain confidence, achieve successful interdependence by transitioning to full council tenancies, secure jobs and stay in college – aspirations that had previously seemed to them to be completely out of their reach.

Meet the Team

Meet the team at the National House Project and find out more about the consultants and trustees who guide, assist and support.

Meet the Team

As a Charity we are ambitious to:

drive excellence in what we do
establish a project in every Local Authority and create a safe and supportive House Project community
use the learning to improve wider leaving care services
develop an expert care experienced user voice to change the narrative about care leavers, make decisions about their lives and their projects and improve wider service provision.