How to run an exempt accommodation flip

1. Secretly set up a not-for-profit organisation, X, supplying housing for vulnerable people. Install a patsy as CEO and recruit some well-meaning staff.

2. Have X registered as a provider of exempt accommodation, a type of supported housing paid for by the state at higher rates due to provision of specialist facilities.

3. Set up a property development company, Y, and buy a derelict building in a deprived area. Convert it to social housing as cheaply as possible.

4. Have X approach local authorities near the property and offer to rehome vulnerable people. As private landlords can’t take on such tenants, there will be a need.

5. Have X take a 20-year lease on the property. As a provider of specialist accommodation, X can charge higher rental rates, all paid for by housing benefits.

6. With the guarantee of long-term income at well above market rates, the value of the property owned by Company Y will skyrocket.

7. Company Y now sells the property at a huge profit. Organisation X will still house vulnerable people in the property for the length of the lease but at no cost to you.

8. Have X come off the register of social housing providers. It will no longer be subject to scrutiny from regulators, but can still claim its tenants’ housing benefits.

9. Repeat steps 3-7 in different areas. You are now rich. Build your own luxury home in the body of a dormant volcano.

Posted on Friday, June 28th, 2024 - Categories: #49 - Oct-Dec 2022, App Issues.