The evidence is clear. When some major life changes take place, people are at a bigger risk of becoming homeless than at any other time. That’s why Lloyds Bank Foundation are launching the Good Place to Live: New Beginnings Fund, backing local organisations that are working to prevent homelessness in their communities before crisis hits.
Everyone should be in a home that’s a good place to live, somewhere safe, secure and affordable. Somewhere they have enough space for the people and things they love. A place that’s comfortable, that they can be proud of. That they can welcome a friend to for tea. The choice to stick glow-in-the-dark stars to the ceiling of their children’s bedroom. A place where they walk through their front door and their shoulders relax. But right now, too many people are at risk of losing their home. And too often, support only comes once someone is already in crisis. This is why we created the Good Place to Live programme, the first programme under our new strategy which aims to ensure everyone in England and Wales is in a good place.
We are launching the New Beginnings Fund, investing £8 million in homelessness prevention. This fund will work with community organisations that are supporting people at key turning points in their lives when the risk of homelessness is highest including people leaving the prison system, domestic abuse survivors, young adults leaving care and individuals leaving the asylum system on securing leave to remain in the UK. By providing the right support at the right time, organisations can help prevent homelessness before it happens and reduce the need for crisis intervention.
Across the lifetime of our strategy, we’ll launch more funding opportunities, proactively backing practical solutions and working towards a future where everyone has a home that’s a good place to live.
Learn more about this new programme
Find out what we’re looking for, who can apply, and the support available through this fund.
Find out what we’re looking for, who can apply, and the support available through this fund.
Use the quiz below to check your eligibility
The quiz takes around two minutes and will help you understand whether your organisation can apply.
The quiz takes around two minutes and will help you understand whether your organisation can apply.
Watch the webinar, and talk to our team
If you wish to discuss your application, book a call with a member of our team. We’re here to help answer questions about the fund and your charity.
If you wish to discuss your application, book a call with a member of our team. We’re here to help answer questions about the fund and your charity.
Complete your application and tell us about your organisation and the work you do to prevent homelessness
Once you’ve registered, you’ll receive a link to access and complete your application online.
Once you’ve registered, you’ll receive a link to access and complete your application online.
Funding decisions made on your application
We will let you know if you been shortlisted by 14 November and receive a final funding decision by 18 December 2026.
We will let you know if you been shortlisted by 14 November and receive a final funding decision by 18 December 2026.
The deadline for applications is 5pm, Wednesday 9 September 2026
Through this fund, were focussing on four major life moments where the evidence shows people face a heightened risk of homelessness. We want to back organisations that provide the right support at the right time, to help people before they reach crisis point.
We’re funding work that supports people who are leaving:
prison
the care system
an abusive relationship
the asylum system on securing the right to remain
We will work with charities, charitable incorporated organisations (CIOs) and Community Interests Companies (CIC) whose main purpose is to support people through one of these turning points. Beyond housing, this support could take many forms, such as immigration, welfare, or health advice. Any immediate support will lead to longer term in-depth support, enabling people to navigate this change and have more control, connections, opportunities and wellbeing in their lives.
Successful organisations will receive an unrestricted grant of up to £ 200,000 over four years, alongside tailored development support, practical tools and valuable connections. Together, these will strengthen your organisation, build on what’s already working, and increase impact for the people and communities you serve. Learn more about what to expect from working with us.
Because the funding is unrestricted, you can use it in the ways that best support your organisation's mission and goals. This gives you the flexibility to invest where it is needed most and respond to the opportunities and challenges you face as you work towards preventing homelessness.
We will make between 40 to 50 grants to organisations across England and Wales
We offer two types of grants:
1. A £100,000 grant - made up of four £25,000 annual payments
For organisations with an annual income less than £100,000
2. A £200,000 grant - made up of four £50,000 annual payments
For organisations with an annual income between £100,000 and £2 million
We have several ways for you to check if your organisation is eligible for funding under this programme.
1. Refer to the sections below, where we break down eligibility requirements, things we look for, and how we support you.
2. Download and print out the full guidance here.
3. Compete our eligibility quiz to find out the initial criteria for applying for this funding programme
4. Attend our pre-application webinar with live Q&A on Wednesday 29 July, 10:30am to 12Noon, where we will go through the application process, eligibility, and more (with BSL translation).
4. If you still have questions after reading the guidelines and completing the eligibility quiz, you can book a meeting to speak to someone from our team before you submit an application.
If you are eligible to apply for funding, you can start your application process by clicking 'Apply now' below. After you’ve entered your details on our sign-up form, you will be sent a link to access the application form in our online portal where we will ask you questions about your organisation’s work.
You can find an example of the questions in this Word document to help you prepare and draft answers.
We can fund up to £500 of accessibility support to enable you to apply for this programme, including:
BSL interpreters
Language translation
Scribes
Dyslexia software
Please email us at enquiries@lloydsbankfoundation.org.uk or 0370 411 1223 to let us know of your specific requirements. We do not provide funding for external bid-writers.
The closing date for applications is 5pm on Wednesday 9 September 2026.
Initial eligibility criteria
Registered Charities and CIOs must:
Or, if you are a Community Interest Companies:
All organisations MUST:
Programme criteria
You must meet these programme criteria to be considered for funding.
1. What your organisation does and how it works
Your organisation provides holistic, person-centred support for people at key life turning points where the risk of homelessness is higher, including those leaving prison or care, escaping abuse, or moving on from the asylum system. Through long-term, trusted relationships, you help people address immediate needs such as immigration, welfare, health or safety, while building greater stability, wellbeing, connections and opportunity. Your work supports people before, during and after these critical moments, helping them access and sustain safe, suitable housing directly or through partners, while working alongside each person to develop tailored plans, recognise their strengths and support them to have greater control over their lives.
2. Your work directly contributes to homelessness prevention outcomes
Your work contributes to homelessness prevention by recognising the specific risks people face at critical life moments and providing early, tailored support before challenges escalate into crisis. By understanding people’s circumstances and working alongside them through periods of change, you help improve wellbeing, increase people’s control over their lives, build trusted relationships and connections, and create opportunities such as access to services, skills or employment. Strong local partnerships and referral networks are central to this approach, ensuring people can access the right support, secure and sustain safe housing, and achieve better long-term outcomes.
3. Your organisation evidences the difference you are making and uses it to learn and improve their work
You evidence the difference you are making by clearly identifying the outcomes you aim to achieve, tracking each person’s progress over time, and using records, feedback and recognised or internally developed tools to understand what is changing for the people you support. This helps show how your work provides earlier support, reduces homelessness risk before crisis point, and enables people to build more stable, positive futures. By reflecting on what the evidence shows, you continue to strengthen your approach, improve services, and respond more effectively to the complex challenges people face at key life turning points.
4. Your organisation recognises the importance of equity, diversity and inclusion and takes action to address inequities
Your organisation approaches equity, diversity and inclusion by recognising that people’s experiences of homelessness risk are shaped by different and often overlapping forms of disadvantage, discrimination and exclusion. You seek to understand the communities you serve, identify barriers that may prevent people from accessing support, and take proactive steps to reach and engage those who may be less likely to come forward. By designing inclusive, flexible and culturally responsive services, involving people in shaping your work, and embedding equity across access, delivery, staffing, partnerships, feedback and organisational culture, you aim to create an environment where everyone feels welcomed, respected, valued and able to belong.
5. Your organisation has people with lived experience involved in the way that it is run
People with lived experience are meaningfully involved in shaping your organisation’s direction, services and decision-making, bringing direct insight into the issues your work seeks to address. Their involvement may include leadership or governance roles, paid or volunteer positions, advisory groups, peer research, co-design, regular consultation and ongoing feedback. By valuing these perspectives and embedding them across strategy, service design, learning and organisational priorities, you ensure that the people most affected by your work have genuine influence over how support is developed, delivered and improved over time.
6. Your organisation has identified and understands its organisational development needs
Your organisation understands its key development priorities and is open to strengthening the areas that will make the greatest difference to its resilience, relationships and long-term impact. These priorities may include strategy and planning, leadership, governance, systems and processes, finance and fundraising, staff and volunteer development, communications, monitoring and evaluation, or service delivery. By identifying these needs honestly and working in partnership to address them, you can build the confidence, capacity and sustainability needed to achieve your goals and create lasting opportunities for the people and communities you support.
What we don't fund
For the New Beginnings programme, we will not provide funding for the following organisations:
If you're unsure whether your organisation is eligible, we encourage you to contact a member of our team before applying.
Using AI to help you write your application
We support charities using AI, including to help draft funding applications. We understand the time and resource pressures many organisations face and recognise that AI can be a useful tool. Used well, it can help reduce administrative burdens and give organisations more time to focus on their core purpose.
We read every application we receive and do not use AI to make funding decisions. What matters most to us is understanding your organisation, the people you support and the difference you make.
We have noticed an increasing number of applications that rely heavily on AI-generated content. While this can save time, it can sometimes make applications feel generic and make it harder for us to understand what is distinctive about an organisation. The strongest applications help us hear your voice, understand your experience and see what makes your work unique.
If you choose to use AI, we encourage you to use it as a tool to support the application process rather than write the application for you. For example, it can be helpful for generating first drafts, improving structure, checking grammar or reducing word counts. However, we recommend reviewing and tailoring any AI-generated content, so it accurately reflects your organisation and your work.
Things to consider when using AI
Keep your organisation's voice
We want to understand your organisation, your approach and what makes your work your application. You remain responsible for ensuring that all information in your application is accurate and up to date.
Protect sensitive information
Many AI tools retain or process information entered by users. Before sharing information with an AI platform, make sure you understand how your data will be stored and used.
As a rule, avoid sharing confidential, personal or sensitive information with free AI tools. If you use a paid-for service, we recommend checking its data protection, privacy and data retention policies to ensure your information is secure.
Our advice
Use AI to save time, not to replace your expertise. The people who know your organisation best are the people within it. The strongest applications combine the efficiency of AI with your own knowledge, experience and voice distinctive. Applications that rely heavily on generic AI-generated content can make this more difficult.
Specific examples, case studies and reflections from your own experience help bring your work to life and give us a much clearer picture of the difference you make.
Check for accuracy
AI tools can sometimes generate information that is inaccurate, misleading or entirely incorrect.
Please carefully review and fact-check any content created using AI before submitting
Frequently asked questions
What do you mean by your “main purpose”?
The main purpose of your organisation will be directly delivering targeted services for people at one of the following turning points where the risk of future homelessness is higher:
People who are leaving prison or young offenders’ institutions
Young people aged up to 25 who are leaving or who have left care to live independently
People leaving an abusive relationship
People leaving the asylum system on securing leave to remain, including unaccompanied asylum-seeking children
Can we use AI to help write our application?
Yes. We support charities using AI, including to help draft funding applications. We understand the time and resource pressures many organisations face and recognise that AI can be a useful tool. Used well, it can help reduce administrative burdens and give organisations more time to focus on their core purpose.
We read every application we receive and do not use AI to make funding decisions. What matters most to us is understanding your organisation, the people you support and the difference you make. If you choose to use AI, we encourage you to use it as a tool to support the application process rather than write the application for you.
How will you assess our approach to safeguarding?
You must have a safeguarding policy in place. In addition to this, during the assessment conversation, we will also ask you about how this works in practice. For example:
how often you review your safeguarding policy and when it was last reviewed?
what safeguarding training do your Trustees, Designated Safeguarding Lead/Officer (DSL/O), staff, and volunteers undertake? We expect the DSL/O to have undertaken “Designated Safeguarding Lead training” This may be called as such or may be called Level 3 training in England or Level C training in Wales.
when you last recorded a safeguarding incident?
the process you underwent to manage your last safeguarding incident.
We are also interested in how you safeguard people either as paid staff or volunteers who may have care and support needs themselves.
Do you fund faith-based organisations?
Yes. We fund many faith-based organisations and recognise the important role they play in supporting people and communities.
However, we do not fund organisations where participation in faith-based activities forms part of the services provided, unless the organisation exists specifically to support people who share that faith.
Where an organisation is open to people of all faiths and none, we expect its services to be accessible to everyone, regardless of their beliefs or background. We would not fund an organisation that excludes people from accessing services on the basis of a protected characteristic, including race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability or gender reassignment.
As part of our assessment process, we may explore your approach to equity, diversity and inclusion and how these principles are reflected in your work.
We also do not fund organisations that require staff or volunteers to belong to a particular faith unless this can be clearly justified as a genuine occupational requirement, or the organisation exists specifically to serve people of that same faith.
We support people at one of the turning points this programme focuses on, but our systems for monitoring outcomes are not yet well developed. Does that mean we won't be funded?
No. We recognise that organisations are at different stages of their development and do not expect every applicant to have sophisticated systems for measuring outcomes and impact.
What is important is that you are committed to understanding the difference your work makes and are willing to strengthen how you monitor and learn from your work over time.
If developing this area is one of your organisation's priorities, we can support you through our organisational development offer. This support will be tailored to your needs and could include working with a specialist consultant to develop an outcomes framework, improving how you collect and use data, or implementing a CRM or case management system.
Our aim is to help organisations build the systems, skills and confidence they need to better understand, evidence and strengthen their impact.
We had an unusual one-off legacy payment which is reported in our last set of accounts, which takes our income over £2m. As this was a one-off, can we be considered eligible?
No. We only fund organisations with an annual income of between £25,000 and £2 million in their last published accounts.
We have a commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, but know that we could do better in this. Will this mean that we won’t be funded?
No. We will partner with charities that can demonstrate that they are committed to ensuring that everyone who could benefit from its services can access them. However, where an organisation understands and recognises that it could have a stronger policy or practice, and demonstrates a commitment to improving in this, we may still consider awarding a grant and would provide development support to enable them to strengthen their practice.
We have seven trustees and three senior managers. Four of the trustees are related. Are we eligible?
No. Given that the trustees are the most accountable people in the organisation, we would consider that if most of the Trustees are related, the organisation would not be eligible to apply.
Our Chair and CEO are related. However, we have seven unrelated trustees and two senior managers. Are we eligible to apply?
Yes. However, at the assessment, we will review the conflicts of interest and loyalty policy, how this works in practice, and how conflicts are managed.
We have an asset lock in our CIC’s Articles of Association, but we have not specified who this is. Are we still eligible?
You will not be able to progress to the next round of assessment until you have a named asset locked organisation in place. As we don’t want to penalise organisations for an oversight on your governing documents, if you have an asset lock in place, we will allow you to update your Articles of Association with an appropriate named charity or CIC by a set deadline.
We are a CIC limited by shares under Schedule 3. Can we still apply?
No. We only fund CICs that are limited by guarantee or by shares under schedule 2. This is so that all of the company’s income goes towards delivering its social purpose.
We have three Directors on our CIC’s board, but the Founding Director holds 75% of the voting rights. Are we eligible for funding?
No. We state that no one individual should hold more than 50% of the voting rights to ensure transparency and fairness in its operations.
Your programme closes to applications on 9th September 2026; however, our accounts for our last financial year will not be finalised and published on the Charity Commission until after then. Can you consider our published accounts posted after the application deadline?
No. We need to be consistent and fair to all potential applicants. Therefore, we will use the accounts which are showing on the Charity Commission or Companies House websites on the date you submit your application form to determine if your organisation is eligible.
In the past, your funding was mainly focused on organisations working with adults. Is this still the case?
No. Because this programme focuses on preventing homelessness, organisations working with children and young people may be eligible for funding.
We know that homelessness often has its roots much earlier in life. The evidence shows that intervening early can reduce the risk of homelessness in adulthood. Supporting children and young people through life turning points can help prevent problems from escalating and improve long-term outcomes.
As with all applications to this programme, the work must be focused on at least one of the life turning points identified in the programme criteria. This could include support for
Young people leaving care
Young people involved in the criminal justice system or leaving custody
Children and young people in families where a parent or caregiver is leaving an abusive relationship
Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and young people as they move through the asylum system
Prevention work may take place in a range of settings, including:
Schools
Alternative education settings, such as Pupil Referral Units (PRUs)
Community-based services
Prisons and Young Offender Institutions
Care settings
Refuges
Asylum accommodation
Local authority-funded supported housing
This is not an exhaustive list. We recognise that effective prevention can happen in many different settings and through a wide range of approaches.