Past projects
North Yorkshire Community Finance Initiative (funded by Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT))
We were awarded funding by JRF to work with JRHT to look at a Community Finance Housing Initiative. One outcome of the project was that JRHT and the Yorkshire Building Society agreed to implement a savings and loan scheme for JRHT tenants.
Extending the role of Cumbria Asset Reinvestment Trust; increasing intermediate market housing provision in rural Cumbria (funded by Voluntary Action Cumbria)
We conducted a feasibility study for creating the Cumbria Asset Reinvestment Trust (CART). The commission was to provide a discussion paper outlining a working financial model for affordable housing in rural Cumbria. A number of meetings have taken place in Cumbria as part of the ongoing support being given to the Cumbria CART
Financial Exclusion: Its Impact on Individuals, Disadvantaged Communities and the City Economy (funded by Leeds City Council)
In 2004 we were contracted to set up strategy for organisation to work on financial inclusion in the city. Based on a survey of over 400 households in deprived parts of Leeds we mapped the extent of financial exclusion and made detailed policy recommendations for how the City Council could address financial inclusion. Through a comparison of the interest rates of doorstep lenders and alternative credit providers, we also estimated the cost of financial exclusion for its users as well as the overall local economy.
Investing in People and Places (funded by the Leverhulme Trust, Portsmouth Housing Association and the Housing Corporation)
In 1999, we conducted a study of the nature of financial exclusion in Salford and Portsmouth. The study consisted of qualitative interviews and focus groups with excluded households and key stakeholders, including representatives of housing associations, local authorities, banks and building societies. A key end-product of this research project was the development of an alternative model for the provision of loans to the financially excluded households and small businesses called Community Reinvestment Trusts (CRTs). Prior to this, there were no community finance organisations offering personal loans. Today there are 6 CDFIs operating based on this model.