Social and Sustainable Housing (SASH)

Overview

The first Social and Sustainable Housing fund (SASH) was launched in May 2019 and successfully raised and allocated £64.5m.

Their follow on fund, SASH II, launched in November 2022.

Aims

• To improve the lives of vulnerable individuals by increasing their access to safe, stable and appropriate housing.
• To make charitable organisations financially stronger, by helping them to buy housing in a low risk way.

Objectives

SASH directly addresses 4 SDGs:

• 1 No poverty
• 3 Good health and wellbeing
• 10 Reduced inequalities
• 11 Sustainable cities and communities

Many small and medium sized charities who provide accommodation-based support services, struggle to access safe, stable and appropriate housing. This restricts their potential to support disadvantaged individuals and families.

SASH addresses this issue by offering flexible finance to ambitious organisations with experience of managing housing, a history of good financial management and confident leadership.

Eligibility

To be eligible for investment an organisation must demonstrate the following:

• Registration as a charity or social purpose organisation
• Based and operating in the United Kingdom
• Delivering housing and support services to vulnerable individuals. These can include (but are not limited to) those fleeing domestic violence, children leaving care, ex-offenders, asylum seekers, people with complex mental health issues and people with addiction issues
• A track record of property and tenancy management
• Recognition of the value of home ownership to their organisation
• An unmet demand for housing for the vulnerable individuals they support
• Local property market knowledge
• Generating measurable social impact
• Annual income over £500,000
• Strong management and governance

Fund portfolio