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Duke of Westminster’s firm outlines plans for new for-profit registered provider
The Duke of Westminster’s firm has announced it is in the process of registering a new for-profit provider.
Grosvenor, a multibillion-pound business that already spans property development and management, food and agricultural technology and which has a charitable arm, today launched Grosvenor Hart Homes (GHH).
In a press release, the firm said GHH had plans for multimillion-pound investments over the next 10 years, to provide more than 750 homes alongside tailored support services to deliver better life outcomes for young people and their families.
The provider will aim to do this through the provision of “high-quality affordable and secure homes paired with support services tailored around individual needs”, while also addressing routes into employment, and mental health and well-being.
The new provider is currently at the stage-two process of registering with the Regulator of Social Housing, which it hopes will be completed later in the year.
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Grosvenor said it had a long history of social housing provision, both in London and Chester. It has over 700 affordable homes in Mayfair and Belgravia, most of which were provided through the actions of previous generations of the Grosvenor family.
GHH takes its name from Hart Street in Mayfair, where some of that social housing continues to be based.
It marked the announcement with the completion of 29 refurbished private-sector homes from Grosvenor, and a dedicated community facility in Chester city centre.
GHH said this first milestone was the result of a successful public-private partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council, following a three-year development programme.
Louise Gittins, leader of the council, said: “It is a pioneering scheme and I wish all the families moving into their new homes over the next few weeks and months the very best. I am excited to see the plans for further investments over the next decade, which will see more homes being delivered to the families that need them the most.”
A newly formed board that includes Peter Vernon, GHH’s chair and a former Grosvenor executive director, and Julie Doyle, chief executive of the Longhurst Group, will steer GHH’s development.
The Duke of Westminster said: “We passionately believe that the provision of high-quality, safe, secure and affordable homes must be paired with outcome-driven support services. Our unique model stresses the need to tailor and meticulously plan, prioritise and co-ordinate services through a trusted and knowledgeable family support professional working alongside families to help them achieve their goals.”
Helen Keenan, the new chief executive of GHH, told Inside Housing that it would be registered as a for-profit provider, but would have the ethos of a social enterprise.
She added: “By focusing on the key foundations of a safe and secure home people can settle into for the long term, mental health and well-being, and employment and routes into employment support, we believe we can empower people to overcome early-life trauma and disadvantage and go on to thrive.”
Ms Keenan said GHH would draw on the expertise and financial strength of the Grosvenor organisation, at the same time as “creating a bespoke social enterprise model that prioritises community benefit, but also delivers a self-sustaining level of commercial return sufficient to support a scalable, impact-focused operation”.
