Peer landlords: Helping others to feel at home

Situated in a peaceful road in south east London, the three-bedroom house that’s home to Keirone, Divine and Lisa* is comfortable and remarkably tidy. The trio are among 17 young Londoners benefiting from the Peer Landlord project, a shared housing initiative being trialled by a partnership of Commonweal Housing, youth charity Catch22 and homelessness charity Thames Reach.

The scheme is aimed at those who have climbed the first rung or two of the education, employment and training ladder, but need the stability of safe and supportive accommodation to keep them moving onwards and upwards.

It grew out of concerns about the lack of suitable housing for those progressing to independence from vulnerable backgrounds, says Commonweal chief executive Ashley Horsey. For many, shared housing was the only option, due to spiralling private sector rents and the controversial “shared accommodation rate” of housing allowance for most under-35s. “Too often, these young people were living in supported housing such as hostels,” says Horsey. “The era of being able to move on to a one-bed flat was long gone and there was concern the hostel system was not giving young people the skills to make shared living work for them.”

He describes the project as “supportive” rather than “supported”, providing a safe haven for those moving forward in life but “not yet ready to fly free”. This supportive environment in each of the six Catch22-managed three-bedroom homes is provided by a “peer landlord”, a young tenant who liaises with the charity on behalf of the other two and acts as an informal mentor.

Judging by the smiles and banter between the three young people, this is a happy house. Keirone, its 23-year-old peer landlord, is “the big brother” looking out for housemates Divine, 21, and 18-year-old care leaver Lisa, who was the last to move in five months ago. Previously, Lisa was in supported housing, but this is very different. “I’m not lonely here,” she says.

Keirone was the first to arrive in September 2013 and says he was motivated to take on the role by thoughts of his younger siblings. “If they were in a house like this, I’d want them to have someone there to look up to and go to,” he explains. “I’m here to give guidance where needed. Because we’ve grown into this relationship like brother and sister, that just feels natural now.”

Backing from support worker

Keirone is tidy and the house is pristine thanks to his “clean as you go” policy. He is aided by Catch22 support worker Merle Walters, who looks after the project’s three south London homes. “My eyes will be everywhere, on carpets, kitchen, bins, how the house is running, and health and safety issues,” she says of her monthly visits. She tends not to burden peer landlords with tenants’ rent issues, to protect housemates’ relationships, she says. But she may make casual requests such as: “Can you tell X not to forget to pay her rent this week?”

Keirone says housemate Divine has come out of his shell since his arrival in October 2013. “He’d stay in his room and you’d hear nothing from him,” he remembers. “Now we have lots of laughs. Because I’m a peer, he was comfortable speaking to me.”

Divine was referred to the scheme by a children’s charity in October 2013 because he could no longer continue living with his dad and was squatting on friends’ floors. The charity had been helping him get his life on track with work experience and workshops in music production, photography and independent living skills, after he returned to London from six years of boarding school in Nigeria “with nothing” in early 2013. “I felt I had no future,” he remembers. “I didn’t know what to do.”

Now he is in the first year of a digital media technology degree at the University of Greenwich. “When I first moved in, I was a bit unsure,” he says. “But Keirone was welcoming and Catch22 helped me settle in. We go to Keirone if we have any problems and if I’m away for a few days, he’ll check up on me. He looks out for me and that makes me really comfortable here.”

Not everything about the property is tidy as the garden is overgrown. “We’re looking at what we can do,” says Catch22’s London housing services manager Tony Smith. “Either we get a gardener to come in every quarter and do it for a charge or we give the young people the equipment and leave them to it.”

It is part of the scheme’s independence-nurturing ethos that tenants will get to decide on this themselves, based on the information the charity provides about the impact on rent.

Smith has devised a set of eight weekly workshops to prepare peer landlords for their role, including guidance on resolving conflicts, something they also learn on the job. Keirone, for example, showed promise as a “fantastic mediator” when he had to deal with a previous housemate, who wasn’t playing by the rules, leading to his tenancy being terminated. Keirone says he avoided physical confrontation by reminding himself that peer landlords need to set an example.

“One of the major lessons from the pilot has been identifying those in the right place to take up an offer like this and benefit from it, and realising that isn’t for everyone,” says Catch22 operations director Tom Sackville.

This is highlighted in the programme’s October 2014 interim evaluation report by the University of York’s Centre for Housing Policy, which reports that in the pilot’s early stages, tenancies were given to those who were not yet ready for this housing model and had little motivation to seek work or education, or engage in the project.

The realisation tenants had to be selected and assessed more carefully led to a more rigorous recruitment process and the charity took a tougher line on rent arrears.

“It’s really important we support tenants to understand they’re required to pay rent, just as they are in the outside world,” explains Sackville. “We’ve definitely been on a huge journey in terms of more proactive work with tenants around arrears. We have to be careful not to lose the balance between being supportive and addressing arrears, which is part of tenants’ necessary learning.”

The evaluation concluded the pilot was beginning to succeed in making sharing a positive experience, citing situations where peer landlords had intervened to help, such as one contacting Catch22 with concerns for his housemate’s mental health, after he stayed in bed for five days. It said peer landlords had successfully de-escalated disputes by mediating, holding meetings and involving staff where necessary.

The latest figures suggest the pilot is helping tenants move on in their lives. Smith says 16 of the 17 current tenants are in education, training or employment, with the remaining tenant actively pursuing it. Of seven who have moved out, five have made positive moves: four into shared accommodation with family, friends or partners, and one into her own flat.

Call for more houses

Smith says there have been requests from young people for more houses like this and acknowledges balancing the need to provide stable, non-time-limited housing for current residents with making space for others is “something we need to think about”. Although the year or so they have lived in the house has played a big role in their personal development, both Keirone and Divine are too comfortable to think about moving in the near future.

There is also a need for more accommodation like this for care leavers, according to personal adviser Dahlia Akhtar from Wandsworth Council’s Catch22-run leaving care service, who works with Lisa. Akhtar says suitable accommodation for care leavers has become much harder to source over the past two years, necessitating more creative housing solutions. She says many 18-year-old care leavers need the “practice run” for independent living that this scheme offers, as well as the “safety net” provided by Catch22 staff.

Meanwhile, the Peer Landlord scheme also offers a fresh start for those who “may not feel safe in their home borough, because of gangs or violence in their family”.

Akhtar says supported housing may accommodate “high risk” young people, alongside those who are less high risk but still vulnerable resulting in teenagers like Lisa feeling “very on-edge”. But now Lisa feels safer, more independent and more relaxed, and is undertaking an apprenticeship in childcare.

“Her confidence and motivation have grown because she’s living with other young people who are working and studying,” says Akhtar. “If she was in a house with young people who weren’t occupied, that would demotivate her. She’s where she needs to be now, and meeting her goals and aspirations.”

Commonweal’s Horsey sees a role for councils in commissioning schemes like this, but insists any involvement must only be pursued with the clear message that “people need to be at the right point in their lives and journeys to maximise the benefits”.

“If the government or councils feel this is just a cheap version of supported housing, Catch22 and others will come under pressure to take more and more people with higher support needs than this is intended for,” he warns. “It’ll go wrong incredibly quickly.”

Meanwhile, back at the Lewisham house, Divine sums up what the scheme has given him – stability and a kind of surrogate family, without which he believes he wouldn’t have accessed higher education.

“I had all sorts of problems and troubles around me,” he recalls. “Now I have a family around me. I know whatever happens, I can come home to support.”

*Name changed


How the housing scheme works

Charity Commonweal Housing received £1.4m from social investors Bridges Ventures, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Trust for London in 2011, helping it buy 13 London houses. Six are leased to and managed by Catch22 for under-25s, and the other seven to homelessness charity Thames Reach in a parallel scheme for over-25s.

Catch22’s Merle Walters helped view the properties, advising on which would best suit the target group’s needs. She favoured homes on routes that were not main roads, providing a greater sense of security and anonymity if needed. She also assessed bedroom size, safety, transport accessibility and neighbours’ attitudes. Tenants started moving in over 2012 and 2013.

Catch22 sets rents for the six three-bedroom houses – two in Lewisham, one in Greenwich and three in Haringey – at around £96 per week, making them affordable for recipients of the “shared accommodation rate” of local housing allowance. No deposit is required and the rent includes a £12 service charge, £5 of which is set aside towards a home deposit for peer landlords when they move out. Tenancies have no time limit.

Walters and Tony Smith, who manage the south and north London houses respectively, take referrals from Catch22 services and other youth organisations, as well as self-referrals. Applicants are assessed for how ready they are for this type of housing and how they will gel with housemates. Peer landlords are encouraged to attend tenants’ interviews.

Peer landlords deal with contractors and light maintenance, support housemates and help resolve conflicts through house meetings. Walters and Smith make regular contact with them, dealing with issues they report, such as repairs. They make monthly house visits for a condition and safety check, as well as providing ad hoc back-up support where needed.

Potential peer landlords are scrutinised for their ability to manage money, engage with others and deal with a house crisis. Catch22 looks for young people in education, employment or training, or those who are demonstrably ready for work. Peer landlords also need to be open, honest, responsible, confident and able to empathise and be supportive. The charity has devised an eight-week training programme, combining independent living skills, health and safety, and skills such as conflict resolution. It plans to extend this training to all tenants from February.


Being a peer landlord helped me stay on track: Keirone Christian-Channer

Keirone was the first to move into the house in September 2013, after being referred by a family friend. He sees himself as a live-in property manager, which has helped develop his organisational skills and made him an “expert” on rent statements. He is keenly aware of how his responsibilities here can translate positively onto his CV.

The 23-year-old, who has a degree in business management, was working at a bookmakers until October and recently started agency work in data entry. He hopes to do a master’s degree in the next couple of years to help build a career in marketing.

The security and comparative safety of this house has been important to him given past trauma. In 2012, Keirone was living with friends in Lewisham when he was burgled. He was forced out of his bedroom window with a gun and fell 40 feet, suffering extensive injuries. He moved back to his mum’s to recuperate.

When asked how his current home compares with the flat he shared with friends, he gives an unequivocal thumbs up. “There’s no 40-foot window to drop from, for a start,” he says with a wry smile. “It feels safer here, because I had a bad habit of letting people know where I lived before. My previous flat was on a main road and my mum’s house was on a main road. I had associates rather than friends coming round and I was a bit lenient about who came over.”

He says being a peer landlord has helped him stay on track. “I have more responsibility here, more to lose and more to look out for, because I have people to look after as well as myself,” he says. “It’s not just about me.”