Problem 

There are over 6,500 people sleeping rough in London and 42,430 households living in temporary accommodation which is expensive and not sustainable. There is also a lack of suitable transitional accommodation for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

Solution 

St Mungo’s Broadway set up Real Lettings to provide affordable accommodation and support for up to two years to homeless families and individuals who are ready for independent living but struggle to access private rented accommodation.

Revenue Model

Real Lettings leases property from the Real Lettings Property Fund for a five year term. Rental income from the properties which is largely from housing benefit is used to repay investors.

Impact 

The Real Lettings Property Fund aims to help up to 600 people by providing around 220 properties over seven years. So far, all clients have maintained their tenancy for over six months and are taking care of their home. 67% of tenants have received help to find new networks or connections and 94% are either in work, education or training.

The Real Lettings worker was the first person to actually ask me what I wanted, listen and then come up with the goods. I’m really excited about the future.

        Real Lettings tenant

The fund addresses problems related to housing and homelessness by increasing the supply and quality of homes available to Real Lettings, scaling up its successful social impact model at the same time as achieving a commercial risk-adjusted financial return for investors.

       Simon Chisholm, Resonance

Social Impact Bonds (SIB) enables us to help people who have been homeless for prolonged periods – they are often trapped in a cycle of rough sleeping, and have complex issues around alcohol, drug use, mental illness and/or physical health issues. The SIB model allows us to work intensively and creatively with people so they can finally leave homelessness behind for good.