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Bridging gaps, building futures, boosting communities
Switch Housing was first established in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic. With vulnerable families in need of places to live, we worked with Birmingham City Council to provide temporary accommodation at our two city-centre hotels. This meant that our staff could continue to work, and our empty rooms could remain open for those with the greatest needs.
This experience gave us a deep understanding of the rising demand for affordable housing in the UK, and how individuals from every background deserve safe, secure and quality accommodation. We have since provided over 100,000 hotel rooms and apartments for vulnerable families in the Midlands, and continue to build relationships with councils and local authorities further afield, to provide housing support across the UK.
Our work is ultimately driven by core values of integrity and quality. By providing a unique range of services and solutions, always with the “Switch gold-standard”, we are proud to play a small part in addressing the affordable housing shortage - one of the biggest issues in society today.
HOUSING
SERVICES
As an agile, solutions-driven business, no challenge is too large or complex. We believe that the better quality a service is, the more impact we can create.
While we can provide flexible, tailored support in line with individual requirements, our main services include:
Temporary accommodation
Switch currently provides accommodation to hundreds of families each week to local councils across the UK, from Birmingham to Leicester, and Coventry to London.
These range from comfortable self-contained apartments to an exclusive-use hotel with 83 bedrooms, each of which has a full range of cooking equipment.
In the same way we regularly maintain commercial properties in our wider portfolio, we personally undertake monthly room inspections, while our partners Shield Safety conduct health & safety inspections twice every year.
Support for residents
Through monthly customer feedback surveys, we ensure that residents have a positive experience when they stay in Switch accommodation, and we are proud to maintain high satisfaction levels across the group.
We found that an overwhelming majority of those staying in temporary accommodation also required support with purchasing food, and as such we introduced a monthly food bank, in partnership with our core suppliers.
Elsewhere, we provide assistance with school uniforms, and have negotiated discounted public transport for our residents.
“I have been aware of Switch and their drive to provide the very best service for their customers since their involvement with the council began. We believe that the USP that Switch provide for the council is a commitment to quality, we are have been provided with customer feedback which has been very positive, external health & safety accreditation and measurable due diligence.
Temporary Accommodation is an area that Birmingham City Council are committed to reduce and ultimately remove, as long as we require the accommodation, I am comfortable that Switch will provide it and provide excellent and safe facilities for our families.”
Operational services &
due diligence
Gold-standard service is at the heart of what we do. This gives our partners the assurance that, when they work with us, they can expect the highest standards.
With an experienced team working across the Switch portfolio, specific operational functions can be procured by local authorities to ensure due diligence – thus streamlining the housing process, while ensuring residents have access to safe and secure accommodation.
Purchasing & leasing
With the support of our partners - including the property developer Seven Capital, construction company, Colmore Tang, and solicitors, Talbots Law - we can raise capital to purchase assets and convert them into social housing, on behalf of local authorities that lack purchasing budgets.
Purchase and Lease Programme
We would agree the standard for suitable houses, flats or developments – either through the existing market place, or through other means, including public auction – and purchase these upon agreement with the local authority.
The conversion and certification works would be undertaken by Colmore Tang, to ensure the development is suitable for social housing.
Turnkey Purchase Scheme
In addition to the Purchase and Lease Programme, our Turnkey Purchase Scheme means we can work closely with local authorities to acquire properties quickly, on their behalf.
All works would be delivered in response to a pre-agreed budget and specification. On completion, the property would be passed to the local authority, ready for occupation.
