Hill donates 200 modular homes to help the homeless

Housebuilder Hill has made a £10m charity pledge, gifting 200 modular homes to help the homeless, reports Rupert Bates, Editorial Director of Show House.

“We have decided, as part of this year’s 20th anniversary of the business, to make a pledge to give something back to the communities we operate in. We recognised as a housebuilder that it is the homeless we really want to help,” said Andy Hill, founder and chief executive of Hill.

Andy Hill remembers being made redundant aged 40 after over 20 years with the same company. He decided to launch his own business, taking on considerable debt. If all didn’t go to plan, he feared he and his family could have become homeless. He has since built a £500m business, employing nearly 600 people.

“Redundancy is just one of a number of life-changing events that can lead to being homeless.”

It gave Hill an understanding of how a series of events can turn peoples lives upside down, be it losing your job, or coming from a broken home and having no family support network.

“I dread to think of not having a home, not having shelter, but sadly homelessness is a huge issue. This project is not only very important to me personally, but to everyone at Hill.”

Emma Fletcher, director of Hill, said that many of us see the misery of homelessness going about our daily lives.

“This is Hill giving something back and helping house people most in need. We will be delivering 200 homes across the areas we work in,” said Fletcher.

“There are not containers; they are individual units, bespoke designed by us, with their own front door that people can call home and with a real sense of place. It gives people an address; somewhere to put their possessions in and lay down roots.”

The modules will be complete and furnished down to wardrobes and even cutlery, before they are handed over to partners, be they local authorities, housing associations, or charities.

“Housebuilding has given me and the business so much and this is about giving back and everyone at Hill will take huge pride in delivering this pledge and embarking on a journey to change peoples’ lives,” said Hill.

Fletcher added: “We have been so touched already, meeting and talking to people about what we’re doing. If we can change one person’s life for the better we’ll be delighted; more than that and we’ll be ecstatic. It is an amazing project, pulling in goodwill from a lot of people.”

Fletcher says the units won’t be built in mass density or high-rise and that Hill is looking for small sites and pockets of land that could be developed.

“We need help in finding sites and want people in the industry to come forward and get involved, helping us with planning, moving people in, management and tenancies. It involves us all,” said Fletcher.

Andy Hill said he hopes others will follow suit. “Our gift is small in the context of the whole homelessness problem. But if other companies can help or do something similar, hopefully we can make a dent in the issue and move the dial in the right direction.”