Further Expansion for Hendre as Foundation Housing Ty Sylfaen joins the Group

Two organisations within the Welsh housing sector joined forces on Thursday 21st June in a bid to increase the number of properties available to accommodate homeless families in South Wales.

The Hendre Group, one of South Wales leading providers of social housing, has signed an agreement with specialist temporary accommodation provider, Foundation Housing Tai Sylfaen (FHTS) welcoming the organisation as its new member.

As well as allowing Hendre to broaden the geographical area in which it operates, this move will bring another specialism to the group. While its existing members, Hafod Housing, Rhondda Housing and Hafod Care provide permanent general needs housing, care and support, Foundation Housing uses empty properties owned by local authorities, private landlords and housing associations to house homeless families, providing a viable alternative to bed & breakfast accommodation for local authorities.

Sian Davies, Chair of FHTS, said the new partnership would bring real benefits to its tenants.

"We specialise in providing accommodation that people want and need - ordinary homes in ordinary streets - but as a single, stand alone organisation, there are obviously limits to what we can do.

"The economies of scale associated with joining a larger, registered housing group will give us the opportunity to become much more efficient, provide an even better quality service and expand significantly. We hope to double our operations within the next three years which will allow us to help another 100 families experiencing housing difficulties across South Wales."

Elgar Lewis, Chair of the Hendre Group, said he was delighted to be joining forces with FHTS.

"Since establishing a Group structure in 2002, our vision has always been to promote efficiency within the sector by sharing our knowledge, expertise and resources to mutual benefit. This move is particularly exciting as it will allow us to start operating in a niche market which we have not been able to explore in any depth until now. We are looking forward to adding this service to the Hendre Groups offer and being able to help even more people in housing need across South Wales."

The Hendre Group was formed in 2002 as a not-for-profit organisation to provide strategic and corporate services support to its member organisations freeing up their time to enable them to concentrate on their roles as social housing providers. Over time, as well as continuing to provide support to Group members, a number of external clients from across a wide spectrum of business sectors are now also benefiting from the corporate services Hendre provides.