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North West housing associations back launch of £20m homelessness property investment fund
A group of housing associations in Greater Manchester are among the first partners in a £20m fund aimed at acquiring accommodation for homeless people.
Social impact investment company Resonance has launched the National Homelessness Property Fund 2 (NHPF2) with an initial budget of £20m and has ambitions to grow this to between £50 and £100m.
The first partner for the fund is Let Us, a group of registered housing providers offering ethical lettings agency services to landlords in Greater Manchester. The group includes Bolton at Home, For Housing, Salix Homes, Stockport Homes and Wigan Council.
The scheme was set up by Greater Manchester Housing Providers (GMHP).
NHPF2 will work by acquiring properties and leasing them to the housing sector and homelessness charities, which will then rent out secure tenancies to individuals and families at risk of homelessness.
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It follows the model of National Homelessness Property Fund 1, which was launched in December 2015 and purchased 229 properties, housing nearly 600 people at risk of becoming homeless.
The latest version of the fund aims to secure up to £100m in investment and provide around 870 affordable homes across the UK.
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.”
Simon Chisholm, chief investment officer at Resonance, 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.”
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