L&Q housing association and Foundation
L&Q housing association engages in charitable community endeavours, providing millions in funding to businesses with plural organisational forms to achieve the greatest social return on their investment and solve local social and economic problems.
Context
- L&Q is a charitable housing association, operating primarily in London and the South East, which houses around 250,000 people in more than 95,000 homes.
- In 2011 they combined their charitable work under the banner of the L&Q Foundation. The Foundation invests in social and economic programmes that increase the opportunities and aspirations of their residents and surrounding communities.
Community wealth building activity
Charitable funding
L&Q, demonstrating their commitment as long-term partners in their neighbourhoods, provide funding of around £10m per year to the Foundation to benefit L&Q residents and communities. In 2019, this funding helped 606 people into paid work, supported 664 vulnerable residents in stabilising their tenancies and created an estimated £17m in social value.
Devolved decision-making for charitable grants
The L&Q Foundation’s Place Makers fund hands over decision-making responsibility to the community to determine which projects are awarded funding. The awarding of grants up to £10,000 is devolved to Neighbourhood Committees made up of L&Q residents and local representatives, ensuring that tenants have a direct say in ensuring L&Qs financial power is used to address issues they are facing. One example of a funded project is Pound Advice, an advisory service, which has helped L&Q residents on over 7000 occasions with budgeting, debt advice and financial planning. This has generated £25m in extra income for its users over five years.
Investing in the local VCSE sector
Moving forward, the L&Q Foundation is planning to increase investment in local social enterprises, as well as launching a capacity building programme to support the sustainability and resilience of these firms, ensuring that L&Q Foundation capital continues to circulate locally, spreading social benefits.
