By Good Place Lettings launched on 22 October 2025 as London’s first socially led, values-based lettings agency, bringing together a collective of property professionals, charity representatives, landlords, and tenants.
The launch event was an optimistic evening, celebrating the future of a fairer private rented sector and the vital role the market can play in tackling housing inequality. It was an evening that had a clear message, and that was a call for all good landlords to join Good Place Lettings in their mission.
Good Place Lettings is an exciting new social enterprise lettings agency, developed by Homes for Good and Crisis. It is based on the award-winning Homes for Good model in Glasgow, with profits reinvested into supporting people experiencing homelessness and on low incomes to find good quality, affordable homes in London. At its core, it’s all about good people and good homes.
In his welcome speech, Richard Donnell, Chair of Good Place Lettings, described the launch as ‘a step forward in the right direction’ – a night celebrating and connecting property professionals passionate about housing and the future of the private rented sector. Matt Downie, CEO of Crisis, also echoed the positive role the PRS can play, highlighting that we want to work with landlords who want to show this can be done.
The values-led lettings agency offers a socially driven alternative to traditional letting practices. Guided by an ethos of care and responsibility, its overall mission is to provide a rewarding experience of renting for both landlords and tenants for every step of the process, from onboarding to property management. The overall mission is to deliver homes to a high standard of quality, and to ensure renting in the private sector is made fairer and more inclusive for those traditionally excluded. And offering a higher quality standard of providing a home than just a ‘make do’ housing approach to those homeless and vulnerable in the housing market.
Good Place Lettings is community-led, with profits being reinvested back into supporting people experiencing homelessness and helping accessibility to safe, affordable homes. Good Place Lettings has received funding from the Lloyds Banking Group and the National Lottery Community Fund.
While the evening was a celebration of positive partnership between the private rented sector, private landlords, and the charity sector, it also acknowledged the harsh realities of the UK’s worsening housing crisis, with a focus on London. Matt Downie, CEO of Crisis, commented that right now there isn’t any housing in London-private or social housing, and every day it’s getting harder. With social housing in decades of decline and a loss of “45,000 homes were lost from the private rented sector in this way between April 2021 and December 2023” (Trust for London), it’s clear that London’s housing crisis is at its worst.
Looking beyond the statistics and translating this into human experience, Jasmine Basran, Head of Policy and Social Change at Crisis, shed light on what this means for people, commenting that the harsh reality of the London housing crisis means “170,000 Londoners will be sleeping rough in the city on this single night”. Tom Copley, Deputy Mayor of London for Housing and Residential Development, also stressed the urgency of London’s housing emergency with the statistic that “one in 21 children are currently in temporary accommodation.” The message was clear- the need for a new, innovative approach to renting with care and responsibility at its core is urgently needed.
When asked why launch Good Place Lettings in London, given the context of a housing emergency in the capital, Susan Aktemel, Founder of Good Place Lettings, commented, “If this model of lettings can work in London, it can work anywhere, and ultimately make a huge impact, which is what we’re on a mission to do”. Jasmine Basran, Head of Policy and Social Change at Crisis, echoed this sentiment, adding, ‘A model that works in London is proof that it can work anywhere’.
Tom Copley, Deputy Mayor of London for Housing and Residential Development, also stated: “Right now, London’s private rented sector is insecure, often unaffordable, and out of reach for many. Good Place Lettings can play a vital role in changing that – particularly for vulnerable groups who struggle to access private housing. It’s also a great option for socially minded landlords who want to work with an agency that shares their values.”
He added that he’s keen to help promote the initiative at City Hall and hopes the model’s success can be replicated in other UK cities.
As part of the launch event, I also had the pleasure of speaking to Dave, a social landlord who purchased his property with the intention of providing a home to someone from Crisis and is using Good Place Lettings to manage this property. He explained his motivation, stating, “For me, it’s all about doing something that aligns with my social values. The launch tonight really hit home the ‘why’ behind letting my property – it’s about making a real difference, and the tenancy support is important to me. The fact that the office of Good Place Lettings has a homely feel when you arrive instantly creates a safe environment for the vulnerable people they are looking to provide a home too”.
Looking to the future of Good Place Lettings in being part of the solution to tackling housing inequality in London, Matt Downie, CEO of Crisis, shared a hopeful, optimistic view of this future through a key partnership with private landlords:
“The future is about more landlords coming forward to ensure their homes are properly managed with carefully supported tenants. At the same time, more tenants, including those moving on from homelessness, will have fantastic places to live. The main challenge is making sure landlords know Good Place Lettings exists, and that landlords recognise it as a trusted service, and we’ll do everything we can to get the word out to these landlords”.
In their mission to call all good landlords, Good Place Lettings are exhibiting at the National Landlord Investment Show on 29th October in Old Billingsgate, connecting with thousands of landlords. The National Landlord Investment Show recently launched the Rent for Good initiative at the London show in July 2025, sharing new opportunities for landlords.
Highlights from the launch evening:
Also among the guests in attendance at the launch event was Steve, a commercial landlord who lets his property with Good Place Lettings. He shared a story based on his own values, he took the initiative to find a social lettings agency himself, unsure if it existed in London. That’s where he found Good Place Lettings. Being a strong advocate and supporter of ending homelessness, as he volunteered with crisis over many years, Good Place Lettings was exactly what he was looking for. Now he lets his property to a single-mother household where, for the first time, the tenant’s teenage daughter has a bedroom of her own. He said, “My tenants are happy, so I’m happy”.
As the launch evening came to a close, the sense of optimism, hope and positivity was clear – that Good Place Lettings represents not just a new social business that is community-based, but is offering a transformative social alternative movement to lettings in the capital with the aim of tackling housing inequality.
Tracey Hanbury, Co-Founder of the National Landlord Investment Show (Left), Susan Aktemel, Founder of Good Place Lettings & Homes For Good (Middle) and Ben Rayner, Director of Good Place Lettings at launch event on 22nd October at Impact Hub.
The LIS (Landlord Investment Show) Media team were happy to support the launch event of Good Place Lettings.
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