Prince William teams up with former prime minister Gordon Brown and Brown’s Multibank charity to scale Homewards, a five-year program aimed at ending homelessness by turning vacant properties into furnished, stable homes across six flagship locations.

Homewards reports that furnishing homes and supplying essential goods significantly improves tenancy stability, reinforcing the program’s approach to sustainable housing.

Corporate support flows from Bosch Home Appliances, with the CEO confirming donations of appliances to create safe, secure living spaces as part of the initiative.

The partnership expands Homewards’ reach by rescuing surplus goods from firms through Multibank, widening impact beyond its initial Aberdeen base.

Major retailers including B&Q, IKEA, DFS Group, and others are joining to supply surplus furniture and wares for new homes, enabling safe and stable living environments.

IKEA will act as an activator, with Multibank sourcing furnishings from surplus stock to furnish 250 homes across six locations, launching a scalable model nationwide.

The six flagship locations span Aberdeen, Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole, Lambeth, Newport, Northern Ireland, and Sheffield, where families will receive fully furnished homes.

Brown emphasizes restoring dignity and humanity to people experiencing homelessness, arguing that sustained support and resources beyond housing are essential to reversing poverty.

Homewards plans to invest up to 500,000 pounds per flagship site and aims to transform empty properties into safe homes while reducing repeat homelessness by 2028 and scaling the model nationwide.

William underscores the right to safe, stable housing and says he intends to use his role to help those in need, inspired by his mother’s philanthropy.

The program targets specific groups in each location, such as single occupants and under-25s in Aberdeen and women experiencing chronic homelessness in Northern Ireland, with furnishing shown to cut tenancy risk.

The collaboration focuses on furnishing homes as a core strategy, with research indicating that providing furniture and essentials boosts tenancy sustainability by about 12.5%. Transitioning surplus goods into usable homes helps prevent repeat homelessness.