A not-for-profit company that matches rental properties with vulnerable tenants in need of accommodation has partnered with a maintenance firm to improve its offer to landlords. 

Capital Letters was established in 2019 in response to London’s homelessness crisis and mounting costs for councils. 

Funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities the company’s free service gives landlords access to suitable tenants across London whilst ensuring that properties meet required standards. By working in partnership with London boroughs and private landlords, Capital Letters has helped over 4,000 families find a secure home.

The company was created on a pan-London basis to enable boroughs to work collaboratively to combine resources, drive efficiency, equalise access and fair distribution of properties for members, reduce costs and competition for homes while increasing supply, support tenancies to be successful and deliver positive system change for London. 

Its new partnership – with maintenance firm EVO – will allow Capital Letters to offer a service in which tenants can arrange repairs at a time which suits them, rather than a contractor trying to meet arbitrary target dates. 

Its new partnership – with maintenance firm EVO – will allow Capital Letters to offer a service in which tenants can arrange repairs at a time which suits them, rather than a contractor trying to meet arbitrary target dates. 

EVO describes itself as a fusion of property professionals, skilled trades and simple technology “that transforms the way property management, maintenance and repairs are reported and delivered.” Its digital platform connects tenants and landlords with skilled tradespeople in a convenient and transparent environment, allowing for issues to be resolved in the shortest possible time frame. T

“This partnership adds breadth and depth to the Company’s range of services as well supporting our primary objective of finding good quality, affordable secure homes so families can move out of temporary accommodation or avoid becoming homeless. Our partnership with EVO will allow us to add further value to our work with our member boroughs, increasing supply to address the homelessness crisis in London, driving up standards in the private rented sector and supporting successful tenancies for both landlords and tenants” explains Sue Coulson, chief executive of Capital Letters.  

The main goals of the partnership are to reduce homelessness, ensure all accommodation is fully compliant, ensure Capital Letters housing always meets the decent homes standard, improve tenant experience with a completely transparent process, leading to increased engagement and satisfaction; and to significantly reduce environmental impact through the use of digital solutions, video triage, local tradespeople and an improved first-time fix rate.