Charity

Working with Crisis to prevent homelessness

We're proud to announce we are now a part of the Venture Studio from Crisis' investment portfolio of companies working to end homelessness through our ethical, debt-free homeownership scheme.

3 min read

By Aimée B.

Young girl entering her home after experiencing homelessness

We’re proud to announce we are now a part of the Venture Studio from Crisis’ investment portfolio of companies working to end homelessness through our ethical, debt-free homeownership scheme.

What is the Venture Studio from Crisis?

Crisis is the UK’s national charity for people experiencing homelessness. In 2020, Crisis launched Venture Studio to support and invest in companies creating solutions to accelerate the end of homelessness. They look for innovative tech-enabled housing focused solutions as a way to end homelessness or prevent it from happening in the first place. As part of their work, they also facilitate and share expertise with start-ups across the country.

The team has recently launched a £20m philanthropic venture fund in order to invest in over 70 starts-ups over 10 years in a bid to end homelessness faster.

How Pfida (formerly Primary Finance) are helping to end homelessness

With the cost-of-living crisis, unprecedented hikes in the private rental sector, and soaring interest rates on mortgages, an increasing number of people are facing homelessness.

Here’s what our CEO, Raza Ullah, had to say:

Being in debt can lead to homelessness and at Pfida we aim to tackle this. We provide a debt-free way for people to own their own home and our approach protects people from losing their home if there’s a sudden loss of income. We’re excited about using the investment from Crisis to further develop what we do and help more people into their home in a sustainable way.

Our home financing product offers people an affordable, debt-free solution to owning their own home. Our business model enables customers an average of four years of housing stability if they financially fall on hard times, with our recommended initial equity amount, compared to up to six months payment holiday with a standard mortgage lender. The recommended deposit amount is equal to a 20%* equity share of the property that customers can trade with us to cover their rent in the event of financial hardship.

You can find out more about our Home Provision Scheme by visiting our website:

Pfida Home Provision Scheme

Liz Choonara, Director of Commerce & Enterprise at Crisis, said:

“Pfida offers a tech-driven, innovative solution which will help to prevent homelessness. Their ambition to onboard their first customers with 0% deposit by 2025 as well as their equity buffer promise immense social impact. The combination of their expertise and tech with Crisis’ in-depth knowledge and understanding of the multiple root causes of homelessness, will create a strong partnership and we are excited about what we can achieve together. “

You can find out more information on the venture Studio from Crisis here. If you’re interested in donating to the £20m fund, you can email venture.studio@crisis.org.uk.

For any press or media enquires, please email us at marketing@pfida.com

*We do accept 15% and as low as 10% on a case-by-case basis, and we hope to push these down further over time.