1. ? Starting Out: Setting up & growing a project from scratch. Looking at different models of accommodation & how they work

2. ? DIFFERENT NACCOM MODELS? Gift properties / rent free Church Manses Registered Providers of Social Housing. Difficult to let property made available. Individuals/Landlord with voids who will lease at below market rents for guaranteed income Social investors (Green Pastures etc) property purchased and leased to local group. Or managed for a fee by local group. Landlords with voids/ex-student looking for alternate letting agents.

3. What is your long term vision? Start with a clear action plan? What do you want to achieve for those you house? Are you a long term replacement for HO Support or route back into HO Support? We gave each tenant with NRPF 12 months max while we worked intensely with them You cannot help everyone You have to work within the limits of your teams capacity and your financial capacity or you will crash!

4. Our Housing Story? Started housing 4 destitute women NRPF in a rent free borrowed house in 2003 Grew to 5 houses funded by charitable giving. In 2006 we got over stretched & had to down size We needed a self sustainable model? We needed to stop relying on other charities.

5. How Our Model Developed We began to house refugees in 2008 We also began “Podding” having both refugees & asylum seekers in the same house We started to rent more property that met small HMO standards & sublet We rented rooms out to refugees which cross subsidized those with NRPF

6. How Our Model Developed We then had 2 properties gifted to us which helped us expand We started managing other peoples property as a specialist letting agent charging a % management fee & providing a full one stop support service to clients. The aim is to grow the portfolio so that income received from refugees covers running/staff costs and allows for increased provision for NRPF

7. How Our Model Developed Logistical / capacity problems! We needed a full time housing manager! We applied for seed funding whilst we developed our portfolio We worked with investors to help them source and renovate the right property We have now built a portfolio that almost covers project staff costs

8. Our Current Housing Portfolio We now have 26 houses on our books 3 are rent free (2 purchased for our use, 1 from a local housing association), 4 we rent off other landlords & sublet 19 we manage for a % fee for landlords 8 Are ex student small HMO’s 8 are shared accommodation and 11 are family/joint tenancies We house 12 asylum seekers (plus 4 hosted) We house 93 Refugees (11 are children) We have just brought our first house with a gift and hope to acquire more

9. Some Final Thoughts No 2 projects are exactly the same The housing of refugees has helped many projects to house those with NRPF Build relationships churches, housing associations, private landlords & local councils Look carefully at conversion costs when renting to sublet A mixed portfolio? What support do you give clients to help them move on? Having a weekly drop service has allowed us to continually assess need. Flexible, no bond, no deposits, Licence agreements Build a good volunteer team. Aim for quality and good standards Make sure that conversions are done right and meet standards Maximise grant funding opportunities to start & build capacity but don’t rely on them. Have a clear vision & work within your capacity

10. Be inspired to start a sustainable housing project from small beginnings

11. Questions?