• Good Place Lettings is a unique joint venture between Crisis and Homes for Good
• Celebrates a new era for private sector landlords and renters

Today, Wednesday 22 October, Good Place Lettings launches with the aim of bringing more social purpose to the private rental market in London.  

Based on Brick Lane in London’s East End, the agency has been established to help tackle housing inequality head-on by helping private rented sector landlords offer good quality homes for rent alongside responsible property management. The business manages homes for landlords that are let at both market rent and affordable rental levels, including to people who receive housing benefit.

Created as a joint venture between national homelessness charity Crisis and Homes for Good, Good Place Lettings is a social enterprise letting agency that offers a socially responsible alternative to landlords who either self-manage or rely on traditional lettings agencies. The business is replicating the property management model established over the last decade by the award-winning Homes for Good in Glasgow.

There are many good landlords in the market who understand the importance of providing quality homes for rent. They are seeking services that are rooted in ethical management practices, accountability, clear communication, tenancy support and transparent fees.

As a Community Interest Company (CIC), profits generated by the agency will be reinvested into supporting people experiencing homelessness and on low incomes to find good quality, affordable homes in London.

With high rents and ever-increasing pressures on the capital’s rental market, Good Place Lettings is a much-needed intervention. The agency is up and running, working closely with a network of socially minded landlords who share its vision of a rental market that works for everyone.

While many tenancies will be let at open market rents, the model works for landlords who want to offer their properties to those who might otherwise be excluded from the private rental market, such as people recovering from a personal housing crisis, or on low incomes who often face being pushed out of their local areas.

The launch of Good Place Lettings has been made possible with vital funding provided from both Lloyds Banking Group and The National Lottery Community Fund.

Ben Rayner, Director at Good Place Lettings, said: “The private rented sector in London is under huge pressure from low levels of new supply which are limiting choice and pushing up rents. It has been very encouraging to meet and work with landlords who want to offer good quality rented homes at varying rent levels to help a wider range of renters with different backgrounds, while helping to improve standards in the rental market.

“Regulation and reforms to the private rental market are making it more complex and challenging to be a self-managing landlord, which is why some are looking to exit the market. We offer an alternative and landlords interested in making a lasting difference to the experience of private renting in London should get in touch.”

Susan Aktemel, Founder of Homes for Good, said: “At its heart, Good Place Lettings is a values-led business, just like Homes for Good, driven by a determination to make the rental sector a thriving market where both tenants and landlords get what they need. We are delighted to bring our model to the London market.

“The team are committed to building a reputation as the go-to agency in London for landlords who want their property rented out easily and ethically, and for tenants who want an affordable home from an agency they can trust.”

Matt Downie, Chief Executive of Crisis, said: “Good Place Lettings is a truly exciting new initiative. It shows that the private rented sector can and should be a place where people on low incomes, or facing homelessness, can build a life with a safe and secure home.  

“With such a severe shortage of social housing, it’s vital that we have an inclusive private rented sector that provides good quality, genuinely affordable homes. Without this, we’ll see homelessness continue to rise and more people stuck in shoddy temporary accommodation.  

“As we work to tackle the exclusionary practices that have left too many people without a settled home, it’s terrific to see Good Place Lettings open for business.”

The official launch will bring together partners, supporters, and stakeholders to celebrate the agency’s mission and ambitions for a sustainable response to the housing crisis. It will showcase the work already done and the path ahead, outlining how people can get involved, whether as landlords, or supporters.

Landlords and prospective tenants can get in touch with Good Place Lettings here.

ENDS

Notes to editors

Over the last decade, rents in the private sector have risen by 45% in England – with London seeing a 41% increase [ONS, 2025, Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics].

Average rents in the capital are now £2,253 a month [ONS – Private rents and house prices, UK: September 2025].

Meanwhile fewer than three in every 100 privately rented properties listed in England are affordable for people on housing benefit. This is from NHF, Crisis and Shelter analysis of listings data supplied by Zoopla for one to three bedroom private rented properties in England between 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025. The analysis utilised a lookup of postcodes to Broad Rental Market Areas developed by the Urban Big Data Centre, and DWP published Universal Credit Local Housing Allowance Rates 2025-26.

Housing benefit rates have been frozen since April 2025, pushing more households into poverty and at risk of homelessness.

Last month it was reported that in 2024/25 across all London boroughs a staggering £5.5 million a day was spent on managing homelessness – up from £4.2 million a day in 2023/24. The majority of that spending is the cost of providing temporary accommodation to families experiencing homelessness [London Councils (2025), Borough Homelessness Costs Soar to £5.5 Million a Day | London Councils – Home].

 

About Good Place Lettings

Good Place Lettings is here to bring care and responsibility to renting for both landlords and tenants, one home at a time. We are on a mission to build lasting, healthy relationships in the rental market. We want to ensure that every landlord finds their ideal partnership, and that every tenant finds a good place to call home.

We want renting a home to be a rewarding experience for every landlord and every tenant – one built on trust, fairness, and mutual respect. A good place with good people, where quality homes and great service are guarantees and everyone feels welcome.

About Homes for Good

Homes for Good is an award-winning social business, founded in 2013 with a mission to improve standards in the private rented sector. At that time, it was a brand-new concept in lettings and the first of its kind in Scotland – a letting agency operated as a social enterprise, prioritising ethics and values in its offering to landlords and tenants. 

The Homes for Good approach to creating homes within the private rented sector combines a unique business model that blends earned revenue, investment and grants and includes tenancy support and engagement aimed at helping people who might otherwise not find a home in the private rented sector sustain their tenancy. Today, the group manages nearly 600 homes around Glasgow, the West and the South of Scotland, with 60% owned by the business and 40% managed on behalf of private landlords. 

About Crisis

Crisis is the national charity for people facing homelessness across Wales, Scotland and England. We know that homelessness is not inevitable, and we know that together, we can end it.

We provide services directly to people experiencing homelessness, carry out research into the causes and consequences of homelessness, and campaign for the changes needed to end it.

About The National Lottery Community Fund

We are the largest community funder in the UK – community is at the heart of our purpose, vision and name.

We support activities that create resilient communities that are more inclusive and environmentally sustainable and that will strengthen society and improve lives across the UK. 

We’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to work closely with government to distribute vital grants and funding from key government programmes and initiatives.   

As well as responding to what communities tell us is important to them, our funding is focused on four key missions, supporting communities to:  

1. Come together 
2. Be environmentally sustainable 
3. Help children and young people thrive 
4. Enable people to live healthier lives. 

Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, we distribute over £600 million a year through 13,000+ grants and plan to invest over £4 billion of funding into communities by 2030. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.   

National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £49 billion has been raised and more than 690,000 individual grants have been made across the UK - the equivalent of around 240 National Lottery grants in every UK postcode district.