Homeless charity turns to landlording to fix ‘catastrophic’ housing crisis
Crisis, a charity that has long criticised the rental sector for its shortcomings, is to build and manage homes itself as rental property supply collapses.
Homelessness charity Crisis has announced it is preparing to become a landlord for the first time in its 60-year history, in a move that will be closely watched by the property industry.
As The Negotiator has regularly reported, the charity has been one of the rental sector’s most outspoken critics, frequently blaming private landlords for rising homelessness and calling for rent controls and tougher regulation of the market.
If nobody else is going to provide housing, we’ll do it ourselves.”
Now, amid what it describes as a “catastrophic scenario”, Crisis says it must act itself. According to Chief Executive Matt Downie (pictured), the organisation will begin buying and managing its own housing stock after years of relying on others. He says: “If nobody else is going to provide housing, we’ll do it ourselves.”.
The charity plans to deliver at least 1,000 homes in London and Newcastle during the first phase, supported by tenancy-management teams for residents with complex needs. It already runs a lettings arm to help clients access private accommodation, but this will be its first direct venture into ownership and management.
Wheels have come off
Downie says the move was necessary because “the wheels have come off” the homelessness and housing system, with housing supply shrinking and rents rising faster than benefits.
He told The Guardian that the UK’s housing system had reached breaking point and called on the Government to deliver its delayed homelessness strategy and raise housing benefit to reflect current market rents.
Many in the rental sector will want to see how Crisis will cope with the very same financial, legal and maintenance challenges that landlords face on a daily basis.
Welcome Crisis. Housing Associations are in the main charities and like Crisis they are free from corporation and capital gains tax. The big question is why Housing Associations with lots of subsidy from house builders and the tax payer are not able to use their advantages to keep expanding ther rental portfollios. Hopefully Crisis will show them how its done.
Welcome to the club! If Crisis can make a success of it good for them. Every landlord knows that it won’t be an easy ride. Like it or not the PRS is going corporate. That doesn’t mean one has to be a big business but it helps to think and prepare like one. Maybe there will be ‘some real’ world learnings for Crisis, maybe there will be some things the PRS can learn in turn.
… and what is the cause of Housing supply collapsing, – something to do with the ” War on landlords, perhaps ” !
Nice that they now realise that the “wheels have come off” the housing supply perhaps the next step will be that Crisis – Shelter – Generation Rent acknowledge that they are largely to blame by the constant rhetoric against landlords. Now you will find that there are many more poor tenants than landlords.
If I were a cynic I would suggest many players have trashed the PRS in order to get a foothold in the market