10 years, £100m in finance and 10,000 people helped: HSPG’s social housing journey with Together.

The idea.

Manchester-based school friends Guy Horne and David Searle looked at the UK’s homelessness crisis happening right in front of their eyes and decided they wanted to help provide access to a comfortable and safe home to as many people as possible.

The pair had noticed a sizable gap in the market, revolving around social impact investors who were looking to access investment opportunities in the residential property market space. In 2015, HSPG acquired their first Buy to Let – a terraced property in Moston, Manchester – and refurbished it before letting it to a family who had been struggling with homelessness. Since this first project, Guy and David have continued on with their mission, partnering with local authorities to provide social and affordable housing across England. So far, they’ve been able to help over 10,000 vulnerable in our society.

The enablement.

Together is proud to have played our part in HSPG’s journey – providing funding for many of the company’s property purchases.

The partnership formed between the two companies was forged early on, creating strong foundations to enable the Mancunian mates to build a property portfolio. And we’re still standing by HSPG today, providing the purchasing power to help them achieve their ambitions.

Alex Bodie, Director of Corporate and Community Housing , said: “As a business, we’re absolutely committed to accelerating the delivery of affordable homes, and we’re delighted that our relationship with HSPG has helped them to achieve their ambitions.

The result.

During a decade long collaboration, Together has provided £100.8m in loans to support Guy and David’s vision. So far, we’ve helped HSPG complete 226 transactions, with plans to continue the strong relationship and provide the country with much-needed affordable accommodation.

In 2020, after working together for four years, Together provided a £30m revolving credit facility to fund HSPG’s growing pipeline of social housing projects around the UK.

Together has continued to support HSPG with finance to create more social housing around the country, funding has included a £30m revolving credit facility in 2020 and a £7 bridging loan to PPHA - HSPG’s wholly owned Housing Association - for the purchase of 33 affordable housing properties in Suffolk. The properties are being developed to be used for affordable rental and shared ownership housing.

Guy Horne, of HSPG, said: “We are thrilled to celebrate our partnership with Together. Over the years, we have worked hard to provide safe homes for a staggering 10,000 vulnerable people across the UK. This achievement would not have been possible without the support and financial backing from Together.

“Our collaboration has allowed us to develop and deliver hundreds of social housing projects. The £100 million in loans has been instrumental in realising our vision to provide access to secure housing and expanding our impact to meet the housing needs of the most vulnerable in our society.

“We look forward to continuing our strong relationship and furthering our mission to create inclusive communities and provide much-needed affordable accommodation across the country.”

At Together, were proud to work with customers like HSPG, and we’re always looking at how we can support those that support the most vulnerable in our society. If you’d like to find out how our Social Housing finance can help you achieve your goals.