Places for People (PfP) is a

property management Property management is the operation, control, maintenance, and oversight of real estate and physical property. This can include residential, commercial, and land real estate. Management indicates the need for real estate to be cared for and monit ...

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

, regeneration company and leisure company based in the UK.

History

Places for People was founded by North British Housing Association in 1965. Bristol Churches Housing Association joined the group in 1999, and the name was changed to Places for People Group Ltd on 1 June 2000.

Group companies

Places for People is made of over 20 companies including: * Places for People Homes, the Group's property management arm responsible for 48000 of the Group's homes across England and Wales * Places for People Developments, behind a number of developments and long-term regeneration projects, involving master-planning and community consultation; * Places for People Living+ (formerly Individual Support), a care and support specialist which provides housing and support to older people, those with a disability or mental health problem, women escaping domestic abuse and homeless people; includes Kush, black and minority ethnic specialist in London; * Places for People Neighborhoods, involved in long term sustainability of PfP neighborhoods social benefits. * Places for People Financial Services which offers mortgages, loans, home contents insurance, and budget advice; Other Group companies include: * Places for People Capital Markets * Places for People Landscapes * Places for People Green Services * Places for People International * Cotman Housing Association * Castle Rock Edinvar * Chorus * Derwent Living * Touchstone * Places for People Leisure * Girlings Retirement Rentals * Allenbuild * ZeroC * Residential Management Group (RMG) * Places for People Scotland * Places for People Scotland Care and Support Procurement Hub, a

public procurement Government procurement or public procurement is the procurement of goods, services and works on behalf of a public authority, such as a government agency. Amounting to 12 percent of global GDP in 2018, government procurement accounts for a subst ...

consortium, is also part of Places for People.

Finances

Housing groups borrow money to pay for new homes and improvements. Like other large housing groups, PfP raises money from investors by issuing

corporate bond A corporate bond is a bond issued by a corporation in order to raise financing for a variety of reasons such as to ongoing operations, M&A, or to expand business. The term is usually applied to longer-term debt instruments, with maturity of ...

s in its own name. As the late-2000s financial crisis progressed,

first-time buyer A first-time buyer (FTB) is a term used in the British, Irish, Canada property markets, and in other countries, for a potential house buyer who has not previously owned a property. A first-time buyer is usually desirable to a seller as they do no ...

s had difficulty in obtaining bank mortgages. PfP was the first housing group to respond by providing mortgages for

shared ownership Equity sharing is another name for shared ownership or '' co-ownership''. It takes one property, more than one owner, and blends them to maximize profit and tax deductions. Typically, the parties find a home and buy it together as co-owners, but so ...

or 100% buyers on its own developments. In April 2008, PfP launched the Ownhome equity loan scheme in partnership with the

Co-operative Bank Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take deposits and lend money in most parts of the world. Cooperative banking, as discussed here, includes retail banking carr ...

. This was aimed at enabling first time buyers,

key worker A key worker, critical worker or essential worker is a public-sector or private-sector employee who is considered to provide an essential service. The term has been used in the United Kingdom in the context of workers who may find it difficult t ...

s and occupants of social housing to purchase homes on the open market through a combination of a standard cooperative bank mortgage for between 60-80% of the value with the balance funded via an equity loan from Places for People. The scheme ended in April 2010. In 2010 the group recorded a £25 million impairment in the value of its assets, the largest write-down by a UK housing association up to that date. PfP raised the social housing sector's first unsecured UK bond in May 2011.Places for People issues £175m bond
''Inside Housing'', 20 May 2011

Awards

PfP has won Landlord of the Year twice at Property Week's RESI awards, in 2012 and 2014.

References

External links

Places for People websiteLatest inspection report
by the Audit Commission, March 2010 * (charitable subsidiary) {{DEFAULTSORT:Places For People 1965 establishments in the United Kingdom Housing associations based in England Organizations established in 1965 Health clubs in the United Kingdom