Homes for Good builds on Scotland success with London launch of social enterprise lettings agency

A social enterprise lettings agency officially launched yesterday to help tackle housing inequality in London, building on the success of Scotland’s award-winning Homes for Good

Good Place Lettings manages properties for private landlords and offers a mix of market-rate and affordable rents, enabling people on low incomes (including those receiving housing benefit) who would otherwise be excluded from the private rental market to find a quality home.

It will replicate the business model of Scottish social enterprise lettings agency Homes for Good, which was founded in 2013 and which now manages nearly 600 homes in Glasgow and the west of Scotland. 

Its founder, Susan Aktemel, was named WISE100 Social Business Leader of the Year in 2023, for what the judges flagged as her “impressive track record” in social enterprise. At the time, Homes for Good had raised more than £20m in investment from backers including Big Issue Invest, Better Society Capital, Charity Bank and Social and Sustainable Capital.

• Read more: £3m Homes for Good deal with Big Issue Invest is ‘one of largest social investment exits on record’

Good Place Lettings is a joint venture between Homes for Good and homelessness charity Crisis, with both organisations owning 50% of the new company. As a CIC, it will reinvest all its profits in the business, and hopes to manage between 150 and 200 homes within its first two years.

Susan Aktemel (pictured), founder of Homes for Good, said: “At its heart, Good Place Lettings is a values-led business, just like Homes for Good, driven by a determination to make the rental sector a thriving market where both tenants and landlords get what they need.”

London emerged as a priority next step due to its high housing costs and lack of affordable homes, Aktemel told Pioneers Post. 

She said: “The reason I was so determined to try and make a version of Homes for Good work in London was because it’s needed [there] more than anywhere.”

Tackling homelessness

The new venture has been several years in the making, resulting from a broader programme to try to expand and disseminate the Homes for Good model. Funded by a £2.4m grant from the National Lottery Community Fund, the programme included webinars, capacity building and coaching to support entrepreneurs pursuing the same model, as well as work towards replicating the Homes for Good model elsewhere in the UK. 

The Homes for Good business model involves managing tenancies for private landlords who may charge market or affordable rates and pay a fee like with any lettings agency. The social enterprise provides support to people on low incomes to access tenancies, helping management of benefits and assistance with applications, among others. 

Crisis was a natural partner because, Aktemel said, both organisations align on their view to “use the power of the private rented sector” to alleviate homelessness. The charity was instrumental in helping Homes for Good to understand the London market.

Matt Downie (pictured), Crisis CEO, said: “With such a severe shortage of social housing, it’s vital that we have an inclusive private rented sector that provides good quality, genuinely affordable homes. Without this, we’ll see homelessness continue to rise and more people stuck in shoddy temporary accommodation.  

“As we work to tackle the exclusionary practices that have left too many people without a settled home, it’s terrific to see Good Place Lettings open for business.”

Ben Rayner, director at Good Place Lettings, explained that the agency had already been starting to work with landlords who wanted to offer good quality rented homes at varying rent levels to help a wider range of renters with different backgrounds. He added: “The private rented sector in London is under huge pressure from low levels of new supply which are limiting choice and pushing up rents.”

Aktemel added the journey to replicate Homes for Good in London was especially difficult because of the challenging housing market in the UK capital. English legislation on housing and renting substantially differed from the Scottish one, she explained, adding a layer of complexity.

When something is important, you put a lot of effort and time into trying to make it work

“When something is important, you put a lot of effort and time into trying to make it work,” she said. “We didn't give up, we just kept going and we created it.”

Good Place Lettings received grant funding from Lloyds Banking Group and the National Lottery Community Fund, which will cover the startup costs for the business for its first two years, Aktemel explained, although the exact amount of funding has not been revealed publicly. 

Unlike Homes for Good in Scotland, which owns 60% of the homes it manages, Good Place Lettings is not planning to buy homes in the near future due to the high price of acquiring properties in London.

Aktemel said: "The focus is going to be on getting the letting agency established and engaging with landlords who want the properties to contribute towards a social purpose.”

Top image: Crisis fundraisers take part in an event in London (credit: Crisis, Flickr).