Zoopla and Crisis celebrate one year in partnership

Leading property portal Zoopla and homelessness charity Crisis are celebrating a year of working together to strive towards making homelessness in Great Britain a thing of the past.

Throughout the past year, Zoopla has leveraged its unique data, brand recognition and leading industry position to support Crisis with changing the perceptions of homelessness. Together, they have also called for meaningful reform when it comes to housing benefits and the shortfall in affordable housing.

Highlights from the partnership over the last year include:

1. Carrying out joint market analysis to shine a light on the availability of low-cost rented accommodation for people claiming housing benefit in England
2. Supporting the Crisis at Christmas campaign across the Zoopla website and via marketing channels delivering 24 million impressions
3. A coordinated volunteering and fundraising effort across Zoopla which resulted in 207 employee volunteer days and over £65,000 raised for Crisis by Zoopla employees.

Zoopla staff have also given dozens of hours of their time to support the Crisis retail warehouse to coordinate, prepare and price up donated stock for Crisis’ network of Shops from Crisis, in addition to volunteering at one of the Crisis at Christmas centres in December last year.

In terms of what’s next for the partnership, Zoopla is excited to continue to stand side by side with Crisis as they begin their 10-year strategy to end homelessness, working together wherever possible to influence key stakeholders to make the market fairer for people looking to access safe and affordable accommodation.

Charlie Bryant, CEO of Zoopla, said of the partnership: “It’s been a hugely successful year working with Crisis, one which our staff have embraced and proactively engaged with through fundraising and promoting the need to better understand the causes of homelessness. We haven’t seen the increased investment in local housing allowance that we’d hoped for after the publication of our ‘Falling Short’ report, so we must continue to work together to highlight how chronic underinvestment in housing benefits prevents people from accessing affordable homes in the private-rented market. We are looking forward to making further progress with Crisis in tackling homelessness in 2024.”

Matt Downie, Chief Executive of Crisis, said: “Zoopla and Crisis share a conviction that we should – and, crucially, that we can – bring an end to homelessness. Our partnership shows how much can be achieved when charities and businesses come together with an aligned purpose.

“Their up-to-the minute understanding of the housing market, and access to unique data, has enriched our policy and campaigning by demonstrating the growing shortage of truly affordable homes in the private rented sector for the 1.9 million people who rely on housing benefit to pay their rent.

“We are also hugely grateful to the entire team at Zoopla for getting behind the partnership with so much energy and commitment, donating their valuable time as well as vital funds to support our work to help people across Great Britain rebuild their lives away from homelessness. We are excited to continue to work together to highlight the issues contributing to rising homelessness and the solutions required to reverse these trends.”

About Houseful

Houseful is the leading software, data and insight business in residential property. It’s been the new name for the ZPG Property Division since September 2023.

At Houseful, we believe a more connected property market makes for better home choices, experiences, and businesses.

Houseful operates across three business units: Software, Data & Risk and Homes. These business units operate our market-leading brands including Zoopla, Alto, Jupix, Hometrack, Calcasa, PrimeLocation and Mojo.Here’s what they do:

• Software – Alto, Jupix, YourKeys – Our software solutions connect businesses and consumers, powering more than half of all UK housing transactions each year. We deliver a one-stop shop for estate agents and home builders to drive efficiencies, reduce risk, stay ahead of regulatory changes and unlock new areas for business growth.
• Data & Risk – Hometrack, Calcasa – Our data & risk solutions underpin faster decisions and increased automation across the mortgage lending and wider property industries. At the same time, our market-leading valuation and risk management solutions are used by 18 of the top 20 lenders in the UK and all major lenders in the Netherlands.
• Homes – Zoopla, Mojo, PrimeLocation – Our Homes solutions connect millions of people with their current and future home. We provide personalised experiences that put consumers in control of their home and all the decisions around it, making us much more than a property marketplace.