Resonance - Twenty Years Of Impact - Report - Page 61
IMPACT PROPERTY
FUND LAUNCHES
1ST FIRST
2013
C 57K HOUSEHOLDS
in England in temporary accommodation3
FIRST HOMELESSNESS
PROPERTY FUND LAUNCHED
3,920 PEOPLE
housed in unsuitable accommodation
including bed and breakfast accommodation3
RESONANCE KEY MILESTONES
PARTNERS
• REAL LETTINGS PROPERTY FUND 1
It’s aim is to tackle homelessness in London and provide safe and
affordable homes alongside specialist support for tenants.
SUSAN FALLIS
REAL LETTINGS
Perfect partners
One of our predecessor organisations had set up Real
Lettings as a way of finding properties for people
experiencing homelessness, so that when they were
ready to live independently, they could move out of
emergency accommodation into the private rented
sector but with a landlord who understood more about
what they had been through.
After working with lots of individual landlords we realised that there had to be a way
to grow and be more efficient. Daniel was trying to build a model of using social
investment to support access to property. He was the first person we met who was
a credible partner, with the same aims and objectives; achieving social impact
through property.
ST MUNGO’S WAS
THE FIRST HOUSING
PARTNER TO WORK
WITH RESONANCE
TO DELIVER THE
REAL LETTINGS
PROPERTY FUND.
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From the very beginning, Daniel was actively committed to partnership working
and actively demonstrated this, for example in sharing the costs on feasibility
studies. We soon realised our shared vision and commitment, as well as
demonstrating a viable model, made us perfect partners.
We launched the first Real Lettings Property Fund (RLPF1) with anchor investment
from L&Q, then also gained support from Big Society Capital. It was a genuine
partnership as the two organisations evolved together – it felt as though we were
breaking new ground.
Proud of the high-quality properties
We launched with a building that we still have to this day. The first tenant, a mother
and daughter, loved the property and remained there for almost eight years.
It was really high profile – we were the first property social impact fund in the UK.
Ian Duncan Smith even attended and advocated for the Fund at one of our events.
The properties were of a high quality and we felt proud showing people them. It was
lovely to be able to offer prospective tenants a home they deserved. We were solving
social problems through social impact investment and giving single people and
families an opportunity which they probably wouldn’t otherwise have.
The partnership is what has driven the project and made it successful - we had the
same aim and were all very committed to making it work. We evolved together,
and for each issue and problem that arose, we tackled and came up with solutions
together.
Source:
3. UK Housing Review 2018 - Homeless households in temporary accommodation in England
• Crowd funding platform Ethex founded, enabling community benefit
societies to reach a much wider audience
SHARE OFFER
• Stockwood Community Benefit Society launches community share offer
to raise £1m
AWARDS
• Resonance finalist at SEUK Deal of the Year Awards
Following the success of the first fund, we were able to launch a further two funds
– a second in London and a national fund working in Bristol, Oxford and Milton
Keynes. And most importantly, the quality of property didn’t change, if anything it
improved as we learnt more about what was important to our tenants.
Impact investing works
There have been a lot of other changes - we went through a merger in 2014, trebled
in size and became a Housing Association. Together, we worked through the
impact of those changes.
There have also been external factors which have had an impact – the benefit
reform, the forthcoming fire and building safety bill, the impact of Grenfell and
of course the COVID-19 pandemic. And we now have the cost of living crisis.
Resonance led on social impact reporting which has always pulled out key themes
to help our work with clients and we have explored how we can use property to
alleviate some of the challenges our clients face. For example, Resonance has fitted
equipment to minimise the damp and mould which arises when tenants can’t
afford to heat their homes.
Resonance has proven that investing can produce a return and deliver on social
impact. Impact investing works – proven by the over 2,000 people we have housed
and, most importantly, facilitated stability from which our tenants can rebuild their
lives.
We need longer term investments; seven years is not long enough to create the
type of social impact we want to see. We would like to be able to use the success of
our Funds to persuade larger longer term investors that the social impact is equally
as important as the financial impact.
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