Homes
We want to create a more inclusive housing market by providing high quality, safe and affordable homes so people can lead better lives.
Together with investors, housing providers and homelessness charities, we aim to provide adequate housing for the most vulnerable. We also want to attract new, impact-driven capital to improve the wider housing system.
In the context of Covid-19, our portfolio has generally continued to deliver strong impact performance. However, given challenging economic circumstances, we expect to see some tenants become more vulnerable, as well as an overall increase in demand for affordable and social housing.
Fighting homelessness and providing homes for the most vulnerable
In 2020, alongside a co-investor, we invested £30 million into four property funds to find 240 homes for those affected by rough sleeping and homelessness because of the pandemic. This included two Resonance investments, one with social justice charity Nacro in London in partnership with The Greater London Authority targeting people with significant needs. The second was with Let Us, an Ethical Lettings Agency in Greater Manchester where 97,000 people are on the waiting list for a social home.
We also topped-up our investments into Social and Sustainable Housing and the Ethical Housing Company which will see investment flow to at least five charities. These include properties targeting homelessness prevention in Teeside and a national charity People, Potential, Possibilities (P3) supporting vulnerable people with ‘steppingstone’ accommodation in Lincolnshire and Gloucestershire.
- £385.2m Amount drawn down from Big Society Capital and other investors alongside us
- 2788 Number of new homes created
- 5418 Number of people housed
Promoting social innovation in Housing
In March 2020 we launched a Request For Proposals (RFP) for impact housing funds as an opportunity to assess a wide range of strategies. Managers were invited to submit proposals for housing funds tackling a wide range of social issues. These included (but were not limited to) affordable and social housing, private rented sector housing, urban regeneration, modern construction methods and land use. We received 19 prospects across a diverse range of tenure types, fund sizes and fund managers. Combined, these funds are targeted to raise £9.8 billion.
Impact management and measurement practice update
Since June 2020, The Good Economy, Big Society Capital and a working group of 10 investment fund managers have worked on a collaborative project to create a sector standard impact measurement approach for equity investments in social and affordable housing. The purpose of this project is to define a common framework to achieve consistency across the market. This will help fund managers steward capital responsibly, ensuring it delivers positively for those in greatest housing need, particularly those on lower incomes.