Greater Manchester housing providers partner with National Homelessness Property Fund

Let Us, an ethical lettings agency formed by a group of five Greater Manchester housing providers, is the first to partner with a new £20 million national social investment property fund

The National Homelessness Property Fund’s (NHPF2) partnership with Let Us will see more high-quality homes in the private rented sector made available to tenants who really need them, helping to reduce homelessness in Greater Manchester. Let Us, whose five partners are Stockport Homes, Salix Living, For Housing, Wigan Council and Bolton at Home, already manage properties on behalf of many private landlords and with competitive rates and flexible rates.

Lee Sugden Chief Executive of Salix Homes and Chair of Let Us said:

We’re proud to be working in partnership with this significant fund which will help secure properties for people who really need a place to call home. Not only will this investment provide safe, high quality homes which provide the foundation for a happy and successful life, it is also a real seal of approval for an initiative like Let Us, creating ethical private lettings on this scale.

“It is just another example of how Greater Manchester is coming together in its mission to tackle homelessness and I’m sure this fund will provide another big step forward.”

NHPF2 has been created following the successful model of the National Homelessness Property Fund – which was launched in December 2015 purchasing 229 properties and housing nearly 600 people who were at risk of or experiencing homelessness – and in response to the growing need for affordable housing.

The new fund, established by social impact investment company Resonance, works by acquiring properties and leasing them to the housing sector and homelessness charities which, in turn, will rent to individuals and families at risk of homelessness, with a secure tenancy.

By partnering with housing and charity partners, the fund will enable individuals and families to not only be provided with housing but also to have access to – or signposted to – support to help them maintain their tenancies, find employment or education, set down roots in the community and to save for a deposit, so that they can eventually move into the private rented sector with a track record of maintaining a tenancy.

The aim is to attract institutional, pension fund, foundations and professional investors, who will be attracted by Resonance’s track record, the financial return from rent and capital appreciation and also the strong focus on achieving substantial positive social impact, by helping to reduce homelessness.

The fund aims to grow to £100m, over its lifetime and provide around 870 affordable homes across the UK.

Simon Chisholm, Resonance’s Chief Investment Officer said:

With homelessness on the rise the need for safe, decent and affordable housing is great; in Greater Manchester alone over 80,000 people are on social housing waiting lists. Building on the success of our previous property funds Resonance is proud to launch our next social impact property fund, the National Homelessness Property fund 2 which will initially focus on purchasing affordable homes across the North West.

“We are delighted that our first partnership is with Greater Manchester’s ethical lettings agent Let Us and that our initial investors into the fund Big Society Capital, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and – a first for a Resonance property fund, a pension fund investor, Greater Manchester Pension Fund – will enable the fund to make a real difference to people’s lives.”