Social and Sustainable Capital (SASC), the award-winning UK fund manager and social enterprise, has invested GBP2.5 million from its Social and Sustainable Housing (SASH) fund into Valley House, a charity that supports vulnerable young parents and victims of domestic abuse in and around Coventry.This is SASC’s 4th investment from its SASH fund, which has so far committed over GBP16 million. SASC aims to grow the fund to GBP100 million to support 30 organisations to house 10,000 people over the next 10 years.
Valley House offers accommodation services to young parents aged 16 to 24 years old and individuals and families escaping domestic abuse, supporting them to live in a safe environment and providing personalised support.
The charity will use SASC’s investment to acquire 22 properties, providing accommodation for 28 individuals and families in their supported housing services.
The charity is commissioned by Coventry City Council to provide supported accommodation for up to 62 individuals and families. It also runs a children’s nursery and offers community wellbeing services for a wide range of beneficiaries.
Currently, Valley House’s accommodation consists of properties leased from Registered Providers of social housing. It has 62 units of accommodation across 50 properties available in the city, 8 of which are for young parents and the remainder for men, women and families that are fleeing domestic abuse.
Valley House was approached by one of its Registered Providers and given the opportunity to buy 13 of its properties, and with the investment from SASC it will be able to purchase the properties.
With the investment, Valley House also wants to acquire a further nine residential properties to support 13 individuals to meet demand for additional bed spaces under new contracts which will grow its accommodation services sustainably.
Ben Rick, Managing Director of SASC says: “We’re delighted to invest in Valley House, a well-established charity, with over 40 years’ experience providing housing and other services to people in and around Coventry. Our investment will enable the charity to expand its supported accommodation services and serve more vulnerable individuals, alleviating their risk of homelessness and abuse.”
LJ Winterburn, CEO of Valley House, says: “Finding SASC was a godsend. The investment has enabled us to buy our own properties. We knew we would struggle trying to source alternative accommodation from the private sector. Private sector landlords can be reluctant to rent to charities because they perceive there to be a higher risk from housing our service users.
“The SASC loan will enable us to provide safe, secure accommodation across Coventry and provide a temporary safe space for our service users so that we can continue to support them as they move towards independent living.”
Valley House has a proven track record working with young parents who have little or no family support, as well as individuals and families escaping domestic abuse, helping them to develop the life skills and confidence to move on.
