How we work with private developers

Case study: This Land, Cambridge

Client: This Land
Project type: development
Property type: farmhouses, a community centre, residential communal housing
Duration: 2 years, 9 months
Guardians: 51
Properties: 6
Inspections: 546
Client savings: £59,582
Social impact: 8,660 hours of volunteering, or the equivalent of >£104k of social value

Dot Dot Dot partnered with private developer, This Land, in November 2018. We had been managing a residential property on behalf of Cambridgeshire County Council, prior to the property being sold to This Land. Once the partnership had been established, it was agreed that we would manage and secure a number of other properties within This Land’s portfolio. These were two neighbouring flats, a former community centre, and two farmhouses in rural Cambridgeshire.

Across the lifetime of our partnership, we housed a total of 51 guardians, from PhD students to illustrators. Our Cambridge guardians contributed over £104,000 worth of social value during their time with us.

When partnering with clients, we can work with them to achieve their social aims and objectives. This takes a variety of forms, ranging from simply sharing client volunteering opportunities with our guardians, to partnership creation, and the development of structured placemaking projects. We worked closely with This Land to analyse our guardians’ volunteering and work on a strategy to best utilise their voluntary hours for the most tangible social impact. We therefore directed our guardians towards initiatives such as Jimmy’s Cambridge and the Salvation Army.

We are always proud to help our clients support causes aligned with their values, alongside their work to build more quality housing and new communities across England.