EVO Partners With Not-For-Profit Housing Company to Tackle Homelessness in London

• Content
• Property
• EVO Partners With Not-For-Profit Housing Company to Tackle Homelessness in London

18 November 2022

Not-for-profit company Capital Letters has partnered with property maintenance business EVO Digital Technologies to digitalise its repairs, maintenance and compliance services.

Capital Letters is owned by member London councils and backed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Their mission is to respond to London’s homelessness crisis by working in partnership with London councils and private landlords to help families find a secure and settled home. Their free service gives landlords easy and efficient access to suitable tenants across London. 

By automating a large part of the administration process related to the management of the repairs service, tenants will benefit from a more responsive service and Capital Letters can reinvest its time and resources into finding more homes for homeless families in London.

56,500 Households in Temporary Accommodation in London

In March 2022, DLUHC statistics show there were 56,500 households in Temporary Accommodation (TA) in London, representing 60 per cent of the total across England. Of these, over 38,000 had children (68 per cent). Capital Letters’ members expect this number to rise to 100,000 during the current financial year.

The partnership with EVO will allow Capital Letters to offer a tenant-focused housing management service, empowering tenants to arrange repairs at a time which suits them, rather than a contractor trying to meet arbitrary target dates. 

Sue Coulson, CEO of Capital Letters said: “I am delighted that Capital Letters is partnering with EVO to provide a unique and innovative repairs service which puts tenants at the heart. Innovation is at the heart of what Capital Letters does, driving change and creativity in everything we do. This partnership adds breadth and depth to the company’s range of services as well supporting our primary objective of finding good quality, affordable secure homes so families can move out of temporary accommodation or avoid becoming homeless. Our partnership with EVO will allow us to add further value to our work with our member boroughs, increasing supply to address the homelessness crisis in London, driving up standards in the private rented sector and supporting successful tenancies for both landlords and tenants.

Steven Rae, CEO of EVO added: “We are proud to embark on this journey with Capital Letters. EVO was born from a desire to improve tenant and landlord experience, as well as to tackle the serious problem of homelessness. I am really pleased that we have found a partner fully aligned with our core values and beliefs. Tenant experience seems to have been forgotten about in recent times but together I believe we can make a real difference”

Picture: a photograph of some of EVO and Capital Letters staff members, shown  (L-R): EVO - Craig Calder - Commercial Director; EVO - Steven Rae - CEO; Capital Letters - Elizabeth Harper - Director of Operations;  Capital Letters - Fiona Hollingsworth - Head of Housing and Growth; Capital Letters - Lowri Lawrence - Asset and Contract Manager. Image Credit: Capital Letters

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 18 November 2022

Share

Related Articles