Helping Charities Find the Right Homes: ARK Consultancy’s Street Property Acquisition Work

At ARK Consultancy, we are proud to support with property acquisition for charities by helping them buy the right homes for the people who need them most.

Through a range of funding sources, including Social and Sustainable Capital’s (SASC) Social and Sustainable Housing fund, we have already helped charities acquire over 150 properties in areas such as Sheffield, Kent, Humberside, Yorkshire, the North, the South West and Wales. Each of these homes represents a fresh start for individuals and families facing real challenges, from homelessness to domestic abuse.

Our specialist Street Property Acquisition service is at the heart of this work.

How Charities Engage ARK

Although SASC is a major funder of this programme, ARK is engaged directly by each individual charity. We work closely with the charity from the beginning, helping them search for, assess and secure suitable homes that meet the needs of their clients and satisfy the funding conditions set out by SASC or other backers.
Our relationship is with the charity itself, meaning we tailor our advice and support to fit their specific goals and the people they support.

What is Street Property Acquisition?

Street Property Acquisition is very different from large-scale development or regeneration work. Instead of buying multiple homes in one place or securing a whole block, we help charities purchase individual homes from the open market. It is similar to how any private buyer might look for a home — using platforms like Rightmove — but it also heavily relies on our network of local agents, contacts and property professionals to find the right opportunities.

Every purchase must achieve two key things:

Meet funding criteria as a good investment and be sustainable for the charity and end user to manage, for example, have a good EPC and low Council Tax band
Suit the charity’s service users, who often have particular needs related to their circumstances

Balancing these two priorities is not easy. That is where the experience and market knowledge of our Development Team, led by Tim West, and ARK Associate Andrew Belton, becomes essential.

How We Support Charities

Our work spans the entire acquisition process:

Property search and acquisition: Finding homes that fit both financial targets and client needs
Local area analysis and due diligence: Making sure the property and location are suitable for the people the charity supports
Managing the conveyancing process: Keeping transactions moving and coordinating with solicitors
Survey and refurbishment advice: Reviewing property surveys, helping charities plan refurbishments, and advising how to make the best use of refurbishment budgets
EPC and energy efficiency guidance: Reviewing official EPC Certificates, liaising with EPC assessors, and working with local authorities to explore funding options where energy improvements are needed

Energy efficiency is a critical factor. SASC, and increasingly other funders, require homes to achieve a minimum EPC rating of C. While grants are sometimes available to help fund energy improvements, these often only become available after a tenant has been in place for a year. This means we focus on identifying homes that either already meet the C standard or can be upgraded quickly and cost-effectively.

Recent Successes

We have been proud to help a number of charities expand their housing offer recently.

In the North East, we have been working with a charity operating across six local authority areas, from Hartlepool up to Berwick-upon-Tweed. They required 31 homes, and we have already successfully completed on 25 of these purchases.

In Coventry, we supported St Basil’s in acquiring a new drop-in hub to enhance the services they offer to young people at risk of homelessness. While this particular project was funded from St Basil’s own funds rather than through SASC, it is a great example of how flexible our service can be in supporting different types of property needs.

In Manchester, we helped with the acquisition and full refurbishment of several HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation), creating high-quality, supportive living environments for people moving out of homelessness.

Why This Work Matters

The homes we help charities to acquire are more than just properties. They are foundations for people to rebuild their lives, to find stability, and to move forward with confidence.

We are proud to be part of this important work, using our market knowledge, technical skills and strong commitment to social impact to help charities create homes and opportunities for those who need them most.

If you are working through these kinds of decisions in your own organisation and need support in what is a complicated and challenging process, get in touch today.