Resonance launches new £15m homelessness social investment property fund to help meet increasing demand to house rough sleepers in London

Leading social impact investment company, Resonance, launches a new social impact homelessness property fund, called “Resonance Everyone In Limited Partnership”, with an initial investment of £12.5 million and target fund size of £15 million

• The fund will partner with leading registered social landlord and charity Nacro
• Greater London Authority and Big Society Capital, the UK’s leading social impact investor, are the first investors into the fund
• The fund will focus on purchasing affordable homes in London, with the aims of:
• Providing 50 homes for those sleeping rough on London’s street
• Whilst we don’t know the exact number housed because of tenancy length, we estimate over 200 people will be housed over the lifetime of the fund
• According to the Combined Homelessness and Information Network (Chain), 10,726 people spent a night without shelter between April 2019 and March 2020, a 21% increase on the previous year and a 170% increase since 2010

The Everyone In initiative has been created following the rise in rough sleeping over the last year in London and the emergency action as a result of the pandemic that saw nearly 15,000 people being temporarily accommodated in hotels to protect them from the risk of COVID-19. In response, partners across the social investment sector came together to bring new capital into social investment property funds that would provide long-term housing solutions. The Mayor of London has prioritised the creation of long-term social rented homes, available at affordable rent levels. 

The fund is the latest in the successful and award-winning series of impact property investment funds managed by Resonance which to date have raised c £260m and have housed thousands of vulnerable people over the last 8 years of operations.

The fund will partner with leading registered social landlord and charity Nacro and will work by acquiring properties and leasing them to the charity to provide individuals who are currently rough sleeping, or in a hotel or hostel accommodation with a settled home. Additionally, Nacro has secured funding from the GLA to provide a support service for four years to the service users living in the 50 properties.

Nacro will support individuals to maintain their home, set down roots in a community, address any support needs they have, and re-engage with education or employment.  Further to this service users will move into more permanent accommodation, therefore, enabling more people to leave the streets and live in supported accommodation.

The fund aims to grow to £15 million, providing around 50 homes in London, during 2021.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said:

“A secure, long-term home should be a basic right for every Londoner, but a decade of austerity and the economic crisis created by the pandemic means far too many people have found themselves on the street or in temporary accommodation.

“My teams and their charity partners are working around the clock to help the most vulnerable people to work towards a life off the street – but this is only possible if there is high quality, affordable accommodation available at the end of their journey. The work being carried out by Resonance and Nacro will create the homes our fellow Londoners deserve and ensure they have access to the support they need to rebuild their lives.”

John Williams, Investment Director & Head of Property Funds at Resonance said:

“This investment from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, allows Resonance to extend its long-running homelessness property fund initiative in London to help reach the specific and urgent need arising from the pandemic – helping provide move-on accommodation for individuals who have been temporarily housed in hotels and other emergency accommodation, and where there is now a historic opportunity to help prevent a return to the streets by providing a better way forward. 

“We are pleased to be working with Nacro as our charity partner on this initiative, who have significant experience of working with this tenant group and providing appropriate support to ensure successful tenancies and progression for individuals.

“Impact investment in this area means that properties can be made available for the long run to help this need, and attract other investors who want to back solutions to meet these issues.”

Campbell Robb, Chief Executive of Nacro, said:

“Too many people in London are without a safe, secure home, unable to plan for the future.

“At Nacro, we're delighted to be working with the Everyone In partnership, to give people somewhere stable to live - along with extra support that can really make the difference. 

“Holding on to a home in these difficult times is a vital step in helping people to move on with their lives.”

Wren Laing, Investment Director at Big Society Capital, said:

“We’re pleased to be supporting Resonance in scaling a model that has a successful track record in tackling homelessness - raising c £260m to date and providing over 800 homes across the UK. We look forward to seeing this fund expand their crucial work in addressing a growing issue which has been exacerbated by COVID-19.”

Find out more about the Resonance Everyone In property fund here.

*https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/chain-reports