Grosvenor completes registration of new housing business as a for-profit provider of social housing

Property developer Grosvenor has successfully registered its new affordable housing business as a for-profit social housing provider.

The Regulator of Social Housing has confirmed this week that Grosvenor Hart Homes is now a registered provider, meaning it is more easily able to access grant funding, attract investment, nominations and section 106 opportunities.

Grosvenor Hart Homes was set up last year by £492m-turnover developer Grosvenor, which is owned by the Duke of Westminster.

Grosvenor at the time said it will make“significant” investments over the next 10 years to provide “more than” 750 homes through the new enterprise, plus a range of tailored support packages for tenants, including mental health support and assistance into employment.

The first homes delivered by the organisation – the refurbishment of 29 city centre properties in Chester in partnership with the local council – were unveiled last September. The organisation will look to focus initially in Chester and the North west and central London, the areas where Grosvenor – the freeholder of the Mayfair estate – has the bulk of its existing landholdings.

Grosvenor said the Duke of Westminster, Hugh Grosvenor, has set up the social enterprise in a bid to “improve outcomes for vulnerable children, young people and their families”.

The business has appointed former GLA director and Cornerstone Partnership chief executive Helen Keenan to run Grosvenor Hart Homes. Its board, to be chaired by former Grosvenor Executive Director Peter Vernon, will include Dr Javed Khan OBE, former CEO of Barnardos; Terrie Alafat, former CEO of the Chartered Institute of Housing; Julie Doyle the CEO of Longhurst Group; and impact investing adviser Hayley Collen.

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Grosvenor has said scaling the business to 750 homes was “Subject to being able to demonstrate the success of our model in our early activities,”, and that it was aiming to demonstrate “profit sufficiency - not profit maximisation”.

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.”

Grosvenor said there were already 700 affordable homes on the Mayfair and Belgravia estates, and that the name of new initiative was inspired by the “Hart Street” location where many of these affordable homes are located.