Women’s centre offers Win Win property investment scheme

A women’s centre in Hull is promoting ethical investments for would-be buy-to-let landlords who can provide properties for vulnerable women and children.

Winner, The Preston Road Women’s Centre, based in the East of the city, operates the Win Win Investment scheme for people with £12,000 or more to play with.

Investors secure properties on a buy-to-let basis, using mortgage where necessary, before leasing them to the charity, which provides full management services for £50 a month.

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Returns are made from rental income from tenants, who are placed in properties after registering on the women’s centre’s housing waiting list.

Lisa Hilder, director at Winner, The Preston Road Women’s Centre, told The Yorkshire Post that the scheme is a “safe bet” for people looking for better returns than those offered by banks.

The scheme also provides a much-needed resource for the charity, which places at-risk women and children into homes to enable them to escape violent and abusive environments.

Ms Hilder said: “Investors particularly like that it’s an ethical investment.

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“Not only are they getting a good return on their money, they know the way that they get that return is benefiting society and benefitting local women.

“It’s a particularly vulnerable client group we look after and therefore their money’s working for them and working for the women as well.”

According to the centre’s financial illustration, investors could raise £4,483.96 in rent in the first year, based on Local Housing Allowance of £86.23 a week.

For a £50,000 property with a 25 per cent deposit of £12,500 on a 25-year repayment buy-to-let mortgage at four per cent, investors would make a small loss of 2.97 per cent in year one, followed by returns of more than four per cent in years two and three.

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On an interest-only mortgage, investors would see returns of around four per cent in year one, rising to more than 11 per cent in the subsequent two years.

All properties are approved by the women’s centre and must have good links to amenities and schools to ensure women are not isolated. Most are two or three-bedroom terraced or semi-detached homes.

Figures from the Land Registry show the average price of terraced houses in Hull was £52,429 in January. Semi-detached houses were £80,655 on average. This compares to average prices in England and Wales of £134,757 and £170,926 respectively.

Ms Hilder said: “The price of property in Hull makes this an attractive financial proposition to any investor. It’s what helps us generate such a good return.”

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While the scheme carries risks familiar to all buy-to-let investments, such as potential for property damage, Ms Hilder said there is little to no risk of voids - where tenants leave and are not replaced - due to the high numbers of women in need.

Winner, The Preston Road Women’s Centre manages properties through its trading arm Winner Trading. By the end of March, it will own, manage or lease 88 properties throughout Hull.

It is also working with the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) as part of the Hull Empty Homes Consortium. It has bought around 50 properties in the last 18 months to house women and children fleeing violence and abuse.

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