Housing Services

SWITCH
HOUSING

PASSIONATE ABOUT HELPING PEOPLE,
ALL FAMILIES ARE OUR CUSTOMERS.

‍Switch Housing was formed in 2020 during the Covid pandemic when the group kept their 2 hotels open to assist Birmingham City Council’s temporary accommodation demand. Over the last 3 years switch have gained an invaluable understanding of the SocialHousing issues and requirements across all areas.

To date Switch have provided:

Over 100,000 hotel rooms and apartments for families in the Midlands.
15,000 children’s meals funded via Switch during covid.
A number of self contained apartment facilities to assist council’s to move families out of B&B accommodation.
Two red list hotels during covid.

Switch continue to provide:

600 hotel rooms and apartments each week
Switch currently work with Birmingham, Sandwell, Coventry & Solihull local authorities.
Switch provide a suite of services for local authorities to include property inspections, health & safety certification and core standards checks.

See the list below of services Switch can offer for local authorities and social housing.

Temporary B&B Accommodation in Hotels

To date Switch have provided bed and breakfast accommodation for over 100,000 families in the Midlands. When the Switch team began providing accommodation they were surprised by the lack of standards and customer care provided. Switch set a goal to provide the very best standards of service and safety for all their guests.

Switch currently provide over 600 hotel rooms each week, for Birmingham City Council.

Switch have provided an 83-bedroom hotel exclusively for Birmingham City Council, the hotel includes:

All rooms have cooking equipment added.
A dedicated room for after school activities for children.
Monthly customer service satisfaction survey (in July 72% strongly agreed the hotel team were there for their comfort and safety and created a great hotel to live in 28% agreed) overall the hotel has 86% positive customer satisfaction.
Monthly room inspections, the hotel is running with only 3% room issues from customers.
6 monthly Health & Safety inspections from our external consultant Shield Hospitality, with the hotel score from the July audit being 99%.
Switch ask our guest how we can assist them, and the overwhelming majority asked for support with the purchase of food.
Switch provide a monthly food bank in partnership with our core suppliers from our hotels.
Assistance with school uniforms is provided.
Discounted public transport has been negotiated for our guests.

Additional Services for Local Authorities & Housing Associations

Switch is a hospitality company with service at the heart of its culture.

From our initial involvement with vulnerable families, we were extremely surprised by the lack of standards, measurement and safety in the providers across the Midlands and beyond.

The additional services provide local authorities with measurable due diligence. Switch have broken their key operational functions into specific services that can be procured by local authorities to assist them with their accommodation providers:

_{Centralised Booking Team & Accommodation Providers Programme:}

Centralised booking team who are trained to offer a seamless booking service.
Accommodation providers join the Switch programme with guaranteed rates and agree to all of the Switch standard checks.
Accommodation providers upload their availability into the Switch booking platform to allow the central team to see live availability at any time.
Switch contract with the accommodation providers directly which allows local authorities and housing associations to have credit with Switch for all their requirements.

_{Accommodation Providers Certification:}

Switch act on behalf of local authorities to certify accommodation providers.
Hotels are issued with the Switch Self Certification Pack that covers the minimum standard required for accommodation and food service.
Health & Safety certification to include Risk Assessments and certification e.g. Legionella & PAT Testing.
Confirmation that the provider has the correct level of insurance and indemnifies the Local Authority.

The Switch team review all documentation and if all isacceptable a site visit is not required. If the documentation is not sufficient or to standard a visit by the Switch team is the next step.

_{Health & Safety Inspections:}

Switch work with a company called Shield Health & Safety who are external consultants.
All venues that are providing accommodation can be audited on annual basis by the Switch team.

_{Customer Feedback Portal:}

Switch send a monthly customer service question to all guests.
A monthly report is provided for the local authority that provides clear measurement of customer satisfaction for every venue on the program.

_{Venue Inspection and Certification:}

Switch have various inspection programs that are flexible based upon the outcome of the self-assessment exercise.
Inspections range from Health & Safety to the general operation of the venue.
Inspections also react to the monthly customer feedback reports.

Self-Contained Apartments

Switch recognise that self-contained apartments do not classify as bed & breakfast accommodation, however the same standards apply as hotel accommodation.

Self-contained apartments provide lounge seating and a fully fitted kitchen and range from a Studio to 3 bed apartments.

Switch currently have apartments being occupied by Solihull, Coventry & Birmingham City Council and have extended to Leicester and London, with more apartments to follow.

Switch Purchase and Lease Programme

Seven Capital who are property developers and Colmore Tang who are a construction company are both partners with Switch. The partnership allows Switch to raise capital to purchase property and convert them into Social Housing.

The program is applicable to local authorities that do not have the capital budgets to purchase properties, the outline program:

Switch agree the standard for suitable houses, flats, or developments with the local authority.
Switch source the properties from the existing market place and other sources to include public auction.
Switch agree the purchase details with the local authority.
Switch purchase the property.
The conversion and certification works would be under taken by Colmore Tang, to ensure the development was suitable for social housing.
Switch enter into a 5 to 10 year agreement with the local authority to rent the property to them exclusively.

Switch “turnkey”purchase scheme for local authorities

Seven Capital who are property developers and Colmore Tang who area construction company are both partners with Switch. The partnership allows Switch to raise capital to purchase property and convert them into social housing.

Talbots Law solicitors are also partners with Switch, for all legal requirements for property purchases to include conveyancing and surveys.

Visit their website here: Talbots Law

The program:

Switch agree the standard for suitable houses, flats, or developments and target budgets with the Local Authority.
Switch source the properties from the existing marketplace and other sources to include Public Auction.
Switch agree the purchase details with the local authority on a property by property basis.
Switch purchase the property on behalf of the local authority.
Switch have the ability to purchase properties on behalf of the local authority quickly if required e.g. at public auction.
The conversion and certification works would be undertaken by Colmore Tang, to ensure the development was suitable for SocialHousing, based upon the council’s specification.
Switch pass the completed property to local authority ready for occupancy.

Housing Services

Temporary B&B Accommodation in Hotels

Additional Services for Local Authorities & Housing Associations

Centralised Booking Team & Accommodation Providers Programme:

Accommodation Providers Certification:

Health & Safety Inspections:

Customer Feedback Portal:

Venue Inspection and Certification: