What does HOME mean to you?

Just having a place where you can be and close the door and not have to worry about anyone else.

I’m comfortable, I’ve got everything that I need around me.

A peaceful environment, somewhere I can just relax, do you know what I mean?

You can just be yourself and there’s no pressure to be anyone or anything else.

A place where you can be loved and supported.

A place of comfort, a place where you can relax.

A place of warmth, and safety, and security.

Having, sort of like, a support network around you.

Somewhere I can feel secure and safe.

[Toni] So I live with my Mum, my Dad and my daughter but there’s not actually a lot of space for my daughter. Yeah it’s difficult, it’d be nice to have my own key so I can go home when I want. So this is my mum’s back garden and we are creating a home. I never thought the council could find me a home in a space like this and it’s nice to know that you have people around you to support you and it feels just so important because I’m involved. It’s not just down to the builders, it’s down to us as well and I like to meet the crew as well, which is quite cool like, I get to learn some new skills, yeah make new friends, I guess. I’m really excited to paint and decorate my daughter’s room with her. Yeah, I’m just excited for the space and we’ll be able to have people round there’s more independence, more freedom, and more time to spend time with my daughter.

[Alice] It has changed me a lot since I’ve been here because I was really down in the dumps there was nothing really going on, do you know what I mean, like? I’m now living in one of the best places to live in. Because everyone’s so friendly, I just love it, cos wherever you go, they’ll talk to you from the bottom to the top they all speak to you and make you welcome, you know, lots of support and all the carers are lovely. Nice neighbours as well, lovely neighbours. They have got some lovely gardens, really nice, yeah. I spend hours at the window watching the squirrels. [Laughter]

My daughters have said to me, “You should’ve done this years ago, Mum”

[Anna]Buying my first home meant a lot to me I saved for many years to be able to buy it and I just felt a great sense of pride when I finally got that key and stepped over the threshold. We were living with parents in order to save up the deposit. We were living in Weston-super-Mare so we’ve moved to Bristol to have a bit more of the city life, so we feel really lucky that we’re able to buy a house so close to the city centre. Buying a new-build, as well, you basically buy a blank canvas so you can do with it, whatever you want. There’s a lot of stability and security in just living somewhere you feel safe and look forward to coming home to at the end of the day.

[Rose] When you hit rock bottom, that’s where I was. A lot of things went wrong from finance to housing, eventually we ended up in cramped accommodation myself and my children then we start from scratch. We’ve lost out on a lot of things, like having friends over or parties or my children having their own space especially the young one, my daughter. And then I did my application through ‘Home Choice’ a few times. We got the keys, it was amazing it was really really nice, and we loved it immediately. It’s spacious, it’s bigger now everybody has their own little room, have their time then we come downstairs and we watch something or we eat together, you know. And then you have that ‘me’ time, we didn’t have that before just a little bit more privacy, and it’s really important.

[Marcus] My old place was a bit challenging to say the least. Most nights you’d hear some shouting, or wall banging, or someone kicking the doors, things like that. But compared to what I have now, look at it! Surrounded by trees, the sun’s shining through, it’s pretty amazing, you know. I feel like this place has done such a good job of making me feel like you have support around you, sometimes an activity or people are having food nights and the people here are just so nice like, you feel like you’re being welcomed with open arms everytime you see them. Each person that I’ve met has helped me come out of my shell a little bit more.

[On screen text] There are 16,000 people currently on the waiting list.

We’re committed to building 1000 new homes a year by 2024.

We’re building council homes.

Finding new spaces to create homes.

Enabling innovation.

Working with developers.

Building homes.

[Marcus] Having a home, well I think mainly, for me, it means smiling like, being able to be in your own space and being able to be however weird and however happy you feel like you wanna be. [Laughter]