The two homes, Starbright House and Blossom House, will provide a safe and nurturing environment for up to six children and young people aged 10-17 in need of residential care, so that they can stay close to their schools, their friends, and the people who support them.
To ensure the success of this project, the Council has partnered with Action for Children, who will run the new children’s homes on behalf of Hackney. Action for Children is a leading national charity with extensive experience in providing high-quality, specialised children’s homes across the UK. Their national expertise means local children will receive the highest standard of support tailored to their unique needs, in welcoming, safe and well managed homes. This development marks another milestone in the charity’s expansion in service delivery across London.
As set out in the Children’s Homes Regulations, Action for Children will apply to register the homes with Ofsted once the works are finalised.
The partnership formally began in June, after a rigorous selection process, which included gathering views from young people with lived experience of being in care. This builds on the Council’s commitment to involving young people who have spent time in care in shaping the decisions that affect them.
The works on refurbishing the two homes are scheduled to begin within the next few weeks. The homes are expected to be ready to welcome the first children by April 2027.
The names of the homes were chosen in partnership with children.
Starbright House is a small, detached two bedroom home. The inside layout of the existing building will remain mostly the same, with the focus on renovating the building and improving the outdoor area to make it fully accessible.
Blossom House is a four-bed children’s home. The works will include building a small extension at the back of the property to create more living space on the ground floor, as well as fully renovating the property.
The new children’s homes will offer a range of specialised support services tailored to meet the unique needs of each child. They are designed to fit in the community, no different from any other home, and will have adult carers permanently on site.
Why building children homes is important for the community
Some children in Hackney are sometimes unable to live with their parents for a wide range of reasons, and are taken into the care of the Council. Many of them live with another member of their family or one of our foster carers. However, in some cases the child’s needs are best met by offering them a stable and safe home environment in a children’s home.
34 Hackney children are currently living in children’s homes. There are only three registered children’s homes in Hackney, which offer places for a very small number of children with very specific needs. This means that the majority of Hackney children who need to live in children’s homes have to leave the borough. At the end of March 2026, seven per cent of looked after children from Hackney were living more than twenty miles from home.
The project will offer stable, safe and welcoming homes to meet the needs of Hackney’s children. They will have uninterrupted access to local services, and they will be able to maintain and build on the relationships that matter to them the most. By partnering with Action for Children, the Council will be able to have greater control over the quality and cost of providing care, ensuring that children’s needs are met.
“For too long, some private providers have been taking advantage of highly vulnerable children, turning their care into profit. Creating these homes is the beginning of a process that will put first the wellbeing of our children in care, rather than commercial interests.
“Every child deserves to grow up in a loving and stable home. Instead of waiting for national solutions that keep getting kicked down the road, we are doing this by investing directly in the future of our children and our community.
“Partnering with the national charity Action for Children, we are creating safe, nurturing and truly life-changing local homes, allowing our young people to stay close to their schools, families and friends.”
Cllr Soraya Adejare, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Early Intervention
“We are so pleased to partner with Hackney Council on delivering and operating these children’s homes which will offer loving care to children in the borough.
“These homes are such an important step to offer more children the chance to live in their local area. It builds on the relationships, belonging and community which are so vital to growing up.
“It is part of the expansion of our services across the London area and allows us to draw on our expertise delivering safe and loving children’s homes across the UK.”
Kate Isham, National Director for England South at Action for Children
