Evaluation of the JobsPlus Pilot

One in seven working-age adults in England lives in social housing, where residents are more likely to face higher levels of poverty and labour‑market disadvantage than the general population. They are twice as likely to be unemployed or disabled, over three times as likely to be lone parents or have no qualifications, and, when employed, to work in lower-skilled, lower-paid roles.

JobsPlus is a voluntary community-led, hyperlocal employment support programme designed to help people in social housing communities find work. It is adapted from the United States model which has demonstrated positive, sustained impacts on employment and earnings for residents and their children. It does this through onsite employment services, community involvement, and financial incentives.

The programme aligns with Government priorities set out in the Get Britain Working and Pathways to Work papers, Keep Britain Working Mayfield review, the Pride in Place Strategy, and the Child Poverty Strategy, all of which emphasise decentralised, tailored support to tackle economic inactivity, improve skills, and strengthen disadvantaged neighbourhoods. This focus on locally delivered, tailored support is consistent with evidence from the US model, which has shown that strong partnerships among landlords, tenants, and local service providers can lead to sustainable, long-term employment outcomes for residents.

In April 2024, the JobsPlus pilot secured funding for 2024–25 from the Department for Work and Pensions and the HM Treasury Labour Markets Evaluation and Pilots Fund. Additional Youth Futures Foundation funding for 16–24-year-olds was added from late 2024, and further DWP funding was later confirmed to extend delivery for 2025–26. The pilot is being delivered by housing associations  across 10 neighbourhoods, selected to provide a mix of local contexts, with 300–1,000 households per site, high levels of housing association stock, and a relatively large proportion of households with no one in work.

JobsPlus has been developed to support participants who are often a considerable distance from the labour market. For many, progress towards employment is non-linear and involves improvements in wellbeing, confidence and skills as necessary stepping stones to sustained employment.

This report and technical annex, downloadable from the right hand column below, builds on the interim findings published in September 2025 to provide evidence on whether the model can be adapted to the UK context and effectively implemented to improve employment outcomes.