The charity will buy and refurbish properties for those who have experienced domestic abuse.
A charity tackling the causes and consequences of homelessness in Scotland has become the first in the country to partner with the Women in Safe Homes fund.
Cyrenians will buy and refurbish properties for those who have experienced domestic abuse.
The pioneering Women in Safe Homes fund was created in response to the need for safe, decent housing for women who are more likely to experience homelessness as a result of living in an abusive household.
Women seeking to leave abusive situations are often unable to find safe accommodation for themselves and in many cases, their children.
The fund is jointly managed by social impact investment company Resonance, a leader in homelessness property funds in the UK, and Patron Capital, the pan-European institutional investor focused on property-backed investments.
The fund is providing an innovative housing solution to this lack of the right to safe homes for women, many of whom are survivors of domestic abuse or are leaving the criminal justice system without suitable accommodation to go to.
The fund buys and refurbishes properties across the UK and then leases them to the fund’s expert housing partners, who rent the homes to women at risk of homelessness with a secure tenancy.
Louise Swinden, resonance’s property fund development manager and lead on the Women in Safe Homes fund, said: “Sadly for too many women, their home is an unsafe place to be. So we are very pleased to be partnering with Cyrenians - both the Women in Safe Homes fund and Resonance's first housing partner in Scotland - to provide much-needed safe and affordable long-term housing for women most at risk of homelessness.
“This new partnership will see around 200 women and their children housed in Edinburgh, where the need for this type of housing is most acute. These properties will enable women to start their recovery from trauma in a place they can truly call home.”
As the fund’s first Scottish partner, Cyrenians will be providing desperately-needed safe homes for women experiencing domestic abuse and homelessness, specifically in Edinburgh where a shortage of housing is most acutely felt. Cyrenians is partnering with the Women in Safe Homes fund on the same basis as its existing Housing First work, an approach which gives people the space to heal, rebuild and access lasting support with safe, stable housing. This partnership also fulfils one of Cyrenians’ key strategic aims to reduce the number of people experiencing homelessness and provide innovative housing solutions to some of the most vulnerable people living in the city.
Amy Hutton, director of services at Cyrenians, said: “We are delighted to launch this partnership with Resonance, an innovative project that we are particularly proud of, bringing social investment to an area of significant housing need.
“In Scotland, one in five women cite domestic abuse or abusive household dispute as a reason for homelessness, and we know from our work that many of these women end up entering mainstream homelessness systems which can be unsuitable, unsafe and retraumatising.
“The Women in Safe Homes fund will do as it says - offer safe homes to women when they are needed most.”
Across the UK, 1.7m women experienced domestic abuse in 20221, and according to women’s domestic abuse charity, Solace, around 70% of them will have a housing need.
In Scotland, domestic abuse is the main cause of women’s homelessness.
The fund is aiming to buy and refurbish 30 properties in Edinburgh to Cyrenians’ property specifications. These properties will be a mix of family homes and one-beds and will house around 200 women and their children experiencing homelessness.
Having raised £29million in total from 20 social impact investors, the fund has ended its fundraising phase and is now focused on deployment.
It is already in the process of purchasing around 120 homes across the UK in order to house around 300 women and their children over the fund’s lifetime, including the 30 in Edinburgh.
The investment raised from the social impact investors is enabling the fund to tackle women’s homelessness, providing safe, good-quality and affordable homes, as well as specialist support, to help transform women’s lives.
Keith Breslauer, managing director of Patron Capital, said: “This partnership between Cyrenians and the Women in Safe Homes fund is a hugely important step in expanding the fund’s reach to provide much needed help to vulnerable women in Scotland.
“Together Cyrenians, Resonance and Patron Capital have the right combination of charitable and real estate expertise to deliver high quality homes for women most in need of a safe place to live. Without a safe, secure place to live, women who are homeless or victims of domestic abuse find it much harder to care for children, gain employment, access healthcare, or arrange benefits.
“The fund is aiming to tackle this significant issue, helping to improve lives across the UK and continue to highlight important societal problems that need addressing.”
