29 October 2020

Resonance has been awarded a £5m investment by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to deliver housing for homeless Londoners from Spring 2021. The investment will form part of a £15m social impact investment property fund. Working in partnership with leading social justice charity Nacro, Resonance will deliver 50 homes across London.

Simon Chisholm, CIO of 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:

“This is a really exciting opportunity for us to help homeless Londoners move on with their lives.

“Having somewhere secure to live, somewhere you can feel safe, is the basis of a second chance. But it’s not just a roof over their heads we will be providing, through our dedicated support workers we will be helping people throughout their tenancy to build a better future.

“In these difficult times this funding is a vital lifeline for homeless people in the capital.”

The 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 projects I’m supporting today will create the homes our fellow Londoners deserve and ensure they have access to the support they need to rebuild their lives.

“There is still much more to do to tackle rough sleeping which will require greater support from the Government. This includes better protection for London’s private renters, increased funding to keep providing hotel accommodation for as long as it’s required, and immigration support for rough sleepers who are non-UK nationals or have no recourse to public funds.”

Read the Mayor of London's press release here.