Charity sets up RP to facilitate stock transfer from major landlord

News23.02.232.30 PM by Stephen Delahunty

A charity has set up a registered provider to help with the transfer of a hostel from a major landlord.

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Proposed stock transfer leads to London-based charity setting up its own registered provider #UKhousing

Thames Reach Housing (TRH) was registered with the English regulator on 2 February by a London-based charity working with those experiencing homelessness.

Thames Reach told Inside Housing that the proposed transfer of its Robertson Street Hostel from PA Housing to a registered provider that is part of the Thames Reach Group was the driver behind the development of the new association.

The charity said it would provide protection for the future use of the hostel.

A spokesperson said: “The registration of TRH means that we are able to consider other stock transfers which enable the Thames Reach Group to continue to deliver hostel and supported housing services to people with significant support needs; to improve and, where necessary, remodel such accommodation where such an approach is the most effective way to meet the need for such services.”

The charity said it would also consider options for the development of new or replacement hostels and supported housing provisions where identified needs were met, and where appropriate revenue funding was available.

However, the charity explained that it believed housing needs were still best met by social landlords and the private rented sector.

The spokesperson said: “We recognise the importance of housing without integral support as a partial response to the issue of homelessness, including street homelessness. But we believe that the need for this housing is best met by a range of mainstream registered housing providers, and by private rented sector housing, who have the scale and expertise to develop and manage the quantity of housing needed to meet the needs of the general population.”

Thames Reach also recognised that the circumstances behind this transfer, those of a housing association seeking to divest itself from supported housing schemes it did not see as part of the core business, were not unique to Robertson Street and PA Housing.

But PA Housing clarified that it was not divesting from supported housing altogether, just that it made sense in this particular case.

Ian Watts, executive director of customer services at PA Housing, said: “While the scheme was owned by PA Housing, Thames Reach Group (TRG) has always been responsible for the management of Robertson Street.

“Following the creation of TRG’s housing subsidiary that will continue as the service provider for this scheme, now felt like the right time to transfer the ownership to the group.

“We continue to own and manage a number of supported housing schemes across the Midlands, London and the South East, and do not have plans to transfer all our supported housing to other providers.”

St Mary Magdalen’s Hospital Almshouse Charity also registered as a provider with the English regulator in February, but it did not respond to a request for comment.