A new social enterprise lettings agency, Good Place Lettings, has officially launched in London, offering a solution to some of the problems in the private rental market.
The new lettings agency draws inspiration from Scotland’s highly successful Homes for Good, which was established in 2013.
Homes for Good currently manages nearly 600 properties across Glasgow and the west of Scotland and operates a model that marries social impact with private lettings.
Good Place Lettings aims to manage between 150 and 200 homes within its first two years, offering a combination of market-rate and affordable rents, specifically targeting tenants who might otherwise be excluded from the traditional private rental market.
The original model, developed by Homes for Good, manages properties for private landlords who set both market and affordable rents.
Profits are reinvested into tenancy support services that include benefits management, financial health advice, energy efficiency guidance, and employability assistance.
At the core of Homes for Good’s approach is a personalised tenant support system designed to help sustain tenancies and improve tenants’ quality of life.
The enterprise’s founder, Susan Aktemel, gained recognition as WISE100 Social Business Leader of the Year in 2023, and the lettings agency has attracted over £20 million in socially focused investment.
Now, Good Place Lettings has been created through a joint venture equally owned by Homes for Good and the homelessness charity Crisis.
Matt Downie, CEO of Crisis, highlighted the pressing need for an inclusive private rental market that provides genuinely affordable, good quality homes.
He said: ‘With such a severe shortage of social housing, it’s vital that we have an inclusive private rented sector that provides good quality, genuinely affordable homes. Without this, we’ll see homelessness continue to rise and more people stuck in shoddy temporary accommodation.’
London’s unique challenges
With London’s notoriously high housing costs and limited affordable supply, the capital was identified as a natural priority for replicating the Homes for Good model.
Last year, London Councils revealed that just 5% of private rental listings in London are affordable to low-income households.
Good Place Lettings secured grant funding from Lloyds Banking Group and the National Lottery Community Fund, which will cover start-up expenses for two years.
Unlike Homes for Good — which owns a majority stake in many of its homes — Good Place Lettings plans to operate primarily as a lettings agency.
It will partner with landlords willing to contribute properties towards social aims rather than purchasing homes outright, reflecting the prohibitive property prices characteristic of London.
The launch of Good Place Lettings marks a significant development in applying social enterprise principles to London’s housing crisis.
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