We are delighted to have completed the purchase of 13 properties, supporting us to expand our supported accommodation services for vulnerable young people aged 16-25 years old. These purchases are part of a £2.85million social investment loan from Social and Sustainable Capital, and has enabled us to expand our services into different regions and provide housing for 17 people.

As well as reaching new areas and supporting more young people, this investment has supported us to reduce our reliance on private landlords. Tenancy agreements with private landlords are less secure, and have the potential for properties to be sold or removed from rental unexpectedly, which is obviously very disruptive for our young people. Being property owners directly, enables us to provide more permanent and stable homes, and have greater control over the quality and use and maintenance of our properties.  

CCP’s CEO Cordell Ray said, “Taking on social investment has been transformative. We’ve purchased quality homes and expanded into new regions to meet demand. We are now working with local authorities in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Swindon and Bristol as well as Gloucestershire.”

We started our social investment journey at a very challenging time. Lockdown due to Covid happened as soon as we had identified their first property, so the project was put on hold and the timescales extended. Cordell said, “We used this time sensibly to research properties behind the scenes, which meant we could spring into action and complete on properties as soon as we were able.

Our beneficiaries’ needs changed too during this time, and we realised some would benefit from living together, with fewer support hours. We therefore added some larger properties to our portfolio, as well as single occupancy homes. This meant that rather than the initial plan of 16 properties, we bought 13 houses with 17 beds in total. This enables us to offer this kind of flexible and shared accommodation.”

He added, “Throughout the project, each time we completed on a property or found a better way of doing things, we refined our processes. Now, we have a very robust system, and we are working with lawyers and contractors that we know and trust, so we are confident about our expansion.”