The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) funding announced funding in 2024 for ten pilot employment support schemes based on the US JobsPlus model.

It differs from more conventional employment support by using social landlords to target communities where levels of economic inactivity are particularly high. This means it is community-led, and its hyper-local, person-centred and holistic support focusses on how to remove specific barriers to employment alongside improving interview and job application techniques, signposting training and upskilling, and rebuilding confidence and self-esteem.

Chronic shortages in social housing supply mean that social landlords have to prioritise households in greatest need, and inevitably this means a higher concentration of residents whose circumstances make them more likely to face barriers to paid, secure work, and often this is true of their wider communities too.  Many have little or no contact with formal government-provided employment support services.

This policy brief presents the evidence that suggests landords are a more effective conduit for into-work support. particularly for certain groups and communities, than national mainstream employment support agencies. Its focus is on LB Barnet, parent council to NFA member Barnet Homes, and one of the landlords selected for a JobsPlus pilot. Barnet has run its own BOOST employment support programme for more than a decade.