Temporary accommodation provider plans to double housing delivery to more than 1,000 homes

It also worked for Torbay Council to purchase and retrofit 37 homes for temporary accommodation, a portfolio worth £10m that aims to help more than 600 people each year, and has supported both CHP and Metropolitan Thames Valley on the acquisition and renovations of housing for refugees.

Omar Al-Hasso, chief executive of SimplyPhi, said: “Local authorities are experiencing immense pressure to provide affordable long-term and temporary homes for residents in crisis. At SimplyPhi, our mission is to work with our partners to reduce this demand to a more manageable level. 

“SimplyPhi’s ambitious plans to double the number of homes delivered over the past four years, in a single year, is heavily driven by not only the burning need for more affordable homes, but also affordable temporary accommodation.

“SimplyPhi has committed to a higher target to procure and refurbish these properties in response to high demand, helping councils house the increasing number of people on waiting lists for social housing.

“Aside from the sustained demand for affordable homes, we are also developing new programmes in partnership with local councils, helping them to make use of empty homes, reviving redundant buildings, and providing legal framework to aid councils in discharging homeless duties to households that are assessed to be able to sustain their own tenancies.”

Inside Housing reported in February that SimplyPhi had entered administration due to what it described as a “tax credit misfiling”. However, Mr Al-Hasso has explained that this process will not disrupt the firm’s plans for growth.

He said: “The administration process is well under way, and we continue to work with the administrators to close the old company in an orderly and structured manner. This is a court-regulated process, and everything is being managed by a team of specialist advisors, to ensure all matters are legally complied with.

“The operational business was sold as a going concern to another group company back in January. The business has continued to operate with no disruption to business to any clients. All client contracts were assigned or novated to the new company, all staff TUPEd to the new company with no redundancies, all trade suppliers continue to supply goods and services to the new company, and all group companies continue to operate under the SimplyPhi brand.”

The firm believes its proprietary transaction and project management system can more than halve the time properties are spent in conveyancing from 25 weeks to 10.

It can also help to identify all properties on the market, including ex-local-authority properties and housing association stock, and determine suitability for conversion for use as temporary accommodation, while connecting house sellers with institutional buyers.