The charity will purchase 100 properties in London and Newcastle to provide affordable homes for vulnerable people.
Leading homelessness charity Crisis has announced it will begin buying its own properties for the first time, in a move aimed at tackling a shortage of affordable housing.
The not-for-profit plans to acquire at least 100 homes across London and Newcastle over the next three years, with the first purchases expected by summer 2026.
Research from Single Homeless Project shows over 200,000 people – the equivalent to one in 45 Londoners – are estimated to be homeless in the capital, suggesting Crisis’ plans are needed more than ever.
In fact, on Saturday (18th April), campaigners took to the streets of London to protest against a lack of affordable housing in the city.
Crisis, which has supported people experiencing homelessness since 1965, said the decision reflects growing concern over a lack of genuinely affordable housing, leaving many with no option but to sleep rough.
The initiative has been made possible by £6.9m in unclaimed funds released by Lloyds Banking group, which has also extended its partnership with the charity for a further two years.
Matt Downie, Chief Executive at Crisis, said: ‘With the support of Lloyds Banking Group, we can now kick-start our plans to become a not-for-profit landlord in the next few months. What this means is that we’ll be able to start to offer some of the people we support – people experiencing the very worst forms of homelessness – genuinely affordable, secure homes so that they can rebuild their lives.’
The announcement comes as official figures show that in England last year, more social homes were sold or demolished than were built, resulting in a net loss of almost 4,000 properties.
Since 2023, Lloyds staff have raised over £5m for Crisis’ frontline services, including its Skylight Centres and the Changing Lives grant programme, which has delivered over 220 grants supporting people into education, employment and entrepreneurship.
Downie concluded: ‘While this intervention is only part of the picture, and more needs to be done by the UK government to deliver social housing at scale, with the ongoing support of Lloyds Banking Group and the passion and commitment of their staff, we can start to make this important shift and put homes firmly at the heart of the solution to end homelessness.’
Image: Milan Cobanov/UnSplash
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