Date issued: 5 August 2025

Empowering Tenants, Preventing Homelessness: Colchester Borough Homes and Your Own Place CIC Shortlisted for Essex Housing Award

Colchester Borough Homes and Your Own Place CIC are proud to be jointly shortlisted in the Meeting Housing Need – Homelessness category at the 2025 Essex Housing Awards, recognising their innovative and person-led approach to tenancy support and homelessness prevention.

Colchester Borough Homes, commissioned Norfolk-based social enterprise Your Own Place CIC to co-create a tenancy support service that puts people at the heart of the solution. What began as a pilot has grown into a long-term partnership, now embedded within CBH’s homelessness strategy to support people living in supported housing and those preparing to move into homes of their own.

Over the past three years, Your Own Place has worked closely with CBH to deliver interactive pre-tenancy workshops and 1-2-1 coaching sessions, helping people build the skills and confidence needed to sustain tenancies and thrive independently.

In 2024, the partnership took a bold step forward by co-locating a Your Own Place team member, full-time in Colchester. This move has created space for deeper relationships with residents and closer collaboration with CBH staff and housing providers.

The impact has been powerful and personal:

One resident secured funding for a Level 2 counselling course and found employment after attending a workshop.

Another gained the confidence to pass a taxi driver exam, start an IT course, and plan for a future in cyber security.

A participant shared how support helped them seek debt advice and begin the journey to reclaim their home.

Others expressed feeling more informed and confident in accessing help, reducing their risk of future homelessness.

From 2024, residents have also had the opportunity to complete up to six AQA-certified modules, with 22 people already achieving at least one. In total, 51 individuals have been supported through this partnership, with numbers growing year on year.

Philip Sullivan, Chief Executive of Colchester Borough Homes, said: “We’re incredibly proud to be shortlisted alongside Your Own Place CIC for this important award. This partnership is a brilliant example of what can be achieved when we work collaboratively and put people at the centre of our services. By embedding Your Own Place into our homelessness strategy, we’ve been able to offer more consistent, person-led support that helps people not just into housing, but into a more secure and confident future.”

Zoe Webb, CEO of Your Own Place CIC, said: “We’re incredibly proud to be part of this partnership and thrilled to see it recognised. At Your Own Place, we believe that people are best placed to identify their own solutions. This project shows what’s possible when we listen, build trust, and work alongside people to create lasting change.”

This shortlisting reflects not just a successful programme, but a shared belief in empowerment, inclusion, and prevention. Together, CBH and Your Own Place are proving that when services are designed with people – not just for them – real transformation is possible.