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Resonance Launches New £20m Homelessness Social Investment Property Fund

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Let Us Partners With Resonance To Deliver Affordable Homes In The North West

Resonance launches new £20m homelessness social investment property fund to help meet increasing demand of those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness

- Resonance, launches a new social impact homelessness property fund, National Homelessness Property fund 2 (NHPF2), with an initial investment of £20 million and target fund size of £50-£100 million

- The fund will partner with Let Us, a group of registered housing providers in Greater Manchester

- Greater Manchester Pension Fund, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Big Society Capital, the UK’s leading social impact investor, are the first investors into the fund

- The fund will initially focus on purchasing affordable homes in the Greater Manchester region* and will expand nationally:

  • 97,000 households in Greater Manchester were waiting for a social home in 2019
  • over 26,000 of these households were identified in priority need for a social rented home
  • over 2,000 households in Greater Manchester in temporary accommodation are waiting for a permanent home

- The investment from Greater Manchester Pension Fund is the first investment of a pension fund into a Resonance homelessness property fund

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 fund works by acquiring properties and leasing them to the housing sector and homelessness charities to provide individuals and families at risk of homelessness with a settled home.

By partnering with housing providers, the fund will enable individuals and families to not only be provided with housing but will also signpost households to support they need to be able to sustain their tenancy and improve their circumstances. The fund also aims to partner with charity partners who will support individuals and families to 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 but 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. It has already formed its first partnership with Let Us, who will offer safe and affordable homes to those at need across the Greater Manchester area.

Simon Chisholm, Resonance’s Chief Investment Officer says:

“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.”

Karen Ng, Investment Director at Big Society Capital, says:

“We are proud to continue our support for Resonance's range of homelessness property funds established since 2012, further scaling a proven model which has raised over £200m to date and provided over 800 homes across the UK. We’re delighted that this fund will enable a wider range of investors and charity partners to join efforts in tackling homelessness – and we look forward to seeing the continued expansion of this work in response to such a critical and urgent issue.”

City Mayor of Salford Paul Dennett, GMCA Lead for Housing, Homelessness and Infrastructure, says:

“The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated an already alarming crisis of housing and homelessness in this country, and its impact will be felt for many months to come. We face a dangerous winter that threatens to push many more people into hardship, and we should be doing all that we can to prevent further housing insecurity.

“The National Homelessness Property Fund is therefore a timely initiative, and our investment will help us to address the fast-rising demand for social housing and give people in our city-region the security, stability and support they need. We want high quality, truly affordable homes to be available to everyone across Greater Manchester, and the follow-on fund announced today by Resonance is a positive contribution to that goal and towards tackling the housing and homelessness crisis within Greater Manchester.”

Cllr Brenda Warrington, Chair, Greater Manchester Pension Fund says:

“I am proud that the Greater Manchester Pension Fund is able to invest in the Resonance Homelessness Property fund 2. It’s important to me that we are able to make a sound and socially impactful investment which will help provide much needed, affordable and refurbished accommodation for rent across Greater Manchester, whilst still generating a return for the pension fund, to enable it to meet the pension promises of our members, who mainly live and work in Greater Manchester.”

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

“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.”

Find out more about the National Homelessness Property fund 2:

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