Alma Economics was commissioned by Big Society Capital, one of the UK’s largest social impact investors, to assess and quantify the financial and non-financial impact of the Resonance Homelessness Property Funds (RHPF).

The RHPF are social impact investment funds run by impact fund manager Resonance Limited, offering homes to individuals experiencing a housing crisis. These funds acquire properties, refurbish them, and then lease them to partners, including homelessness charities and housing associations, who, in turn, lease them to households that are statutory homeless. As of March 2023, the five RHPF have collectively raised a total of £293 million and housed 3,367 people since 2013.

We estimated that with the current £293m invested in the homes and alongside support services provided to tenants, RHPF will have generated at least £312 million in public financial savings, primarily associated with savings in temporary accommodation expenses, and £143 million in wellbeing benefits over the funds’ life (2013-2035), totalling £455 million in social value. This implies that for every pound invested by a mix of public and private investors over the lifetime of the funds, the funds will not only repay investors but also generate £1.55 in financial and social value.

The significant financial and non-financial benefits quantified by this study result from the lack of good quality and affordable temporary accommodation and the challenges the public sector faces in responding to the increased demand for such housing.

➥ Find the full report here.