“By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.”
Proverbs 24:3-4
Exeter has a challenging housing crisis. There is limited, affordable one-bed accommodation for local young people. In 2018, only 1 in 4 young people were able to receive the long-term housing they needed.
Our vision is to support young people to become embedded in their communities. Many of our young people have been with us for years and are ready to move on into independent living, but although they have meaningful occupations they are priced out of traditional rented housing. They have nowhere to go.
We’re tackling this problem by taking an abandoned warehouse near the city centre and converting it into 26 self-contained studio apartments. Each apartment will provide a young person with a permanent, affordable home and support if needed.
Sidwell Studios is being specifically built to create a fantastic community feel within the wider community, regenerating the area and providing an asset to the locality and real, affordable housing options for local young people.
For our residents, many of whom have experienced upheaval in their childhood, the reality of settling into a secure, permanent place of residence from which they can establish themselves in the community and thrive is a wonderful opportunity.
The new development sits next to St Sidwell’s Community Centre, providing the perfect partnership to offer all the new residents access to vocational skills workshops. There’s even a community allotment tucked away between the buildings, that residents can get stuck into.
We’re delighted to be moving ahead with this development thanks to the significant investment from both Homes England and Exeter City Council and we’ve already received funding to cover 85% of the costs. Will you help us raise the final £525,000?