Transform has delivered five one-bedroom flats under the Government’s Next Steps Rough Sleeper initiative, alongside partners Homes England and Elmbridge Borough Council. Transform will also provide ongoing support to clients in these properties.
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The Next Steps Accommodation Programme has made financial resources available to support local authorities and their partners – including Transform. The funding is to prevent homeless people who were brought into emergency accommodation during the pandemic from returning to sleeping rough. Transform’s five new flats have been funded through a mix of borrowing and grants received from Homes England and Elmbridge Borough Council.
“We completed the last two purchases on 28 June, prepared them for letting and drew down the grant just two days later on 30 June,” Michael O’Brien, Director of Asset Management & Capital Development at Transform, explained. “We did this with only two hours to spare before the scheme closed – it doesn’t get much tighter than that!”
The scheme had been particularly challenging, Mr O’Brien said, because Transform had only received the allocation in late November 2020 and there was a firm deadline of 30 June 2021 to purchase five homes and have them ready to let.
Purchasing flats had also been complicated by the shortage of suitable properties due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the delay in conveyancing while solicitors struggled to complete huge volumes of purchases before the stamp duty land tax holiday ended*.
"Thankfully, Transform has been able to complete the purchases on time which means five people who would otherwise be sleeping rough now have safe and secure homes,” he added. “Through this achievement, we have demonstrated that, despite our relatively small size, Transform can deliver great results and life-changing opportunities for homeless people.”
* The stamp duty land tax holiday was introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic and was originally in place until March 2021 but was extended in full until 1 July.
