A homelessness charity has absorbed a housing association as part of a bid to develop better routes into long-term accommodation and bring housing and homelessness support services together.
Peter Bedford Housing Association has become a subsidiary of the Single Homeless Project, the organisations have said.
The housing association is an exempt charity that manages 324 homes in London and supports socially excluded and vulnerable adults.
The Single Homeless Project supports more than 10,000 London residents yearly who are experiencing or facing homelessness.
PBHA will retain its name, identity and status as a registered provider of social housing, and the housing association will add two board members from the SHP.
The housing association recorded an income of £4m in the year to the end of March 2025, while the SHP’s income was £44m over the same period.
The SHP has about 900 employees while the PBHA has 31, 13 of whom have transferred to the SHP, a charity spokesperson confirmed.
No redundancies have been made as part of the merger, the SHP said, and Clare Norton will continue as chief executive of PBHA in the new structure.
“For the Single Homeless Project, the decision was driven by our long-term strategic ambitions, rather than financial pressures,” the spokesperson said.
“Developing a registered provider of social housing subsidiary was already a key ambition in our five-year strategy.
“We recognised that this would unlock new funding opportunities, help us secure more of the right homes and give us greater ability to provide long-term stability for people experiencing homelessness.”
PBHA was looking for a partner to strengthen its services and the efficiencies created will help it invest in its homes, a spokesperson for the housing association said.
“We identified the Single Homeless Project as the right partner with shared values and complementary expertise.
“Both organisations house single homeless people in London and coming together will help protect Peter Bedford Housing Association’s homes for this group.”
Liz Rutherfoord, chief executive of the Single Homeless Project, said the PBHA brings valuable housing expertise, strong relationships and a “shared commitment to the people we support”.
Rutherfoord said: “By coming together, we can build on what each organisation already does well, explore new ways of working and create more opportunities for people to leave homelessness behind for good.”
Norton said becoming part of the SHP gave PBHA an opportunity to build on its history while retaining its identity, expertise and local relationships.
“We’re excited about the opportunities this new relationship creates for our tenants and the people we support, both now and in the future,” she said.