Incorporating · London · 2026

Built to solve a problem the market has not solved.

London has over 165,000 households in temporary accommodation and 28 million square feet of vacant commercial office space. Four Square Partners was founded to connect these two realities — with the financial rigour, legal structure, and operational discipline to do it at scale.

Join the advisory board The model
165,000+ households in temporary accommodation in London MHCLG 2025–26
£45m Tower Hamlets alone — TA spend over three years, mostly to hotels Tower Hamlets Housing Strategy 2026–36
20m sq ft vacant commercial office space in London JLL London Office Market Q1 2026
3 months before an empty commercial building faces full business rates again LGFA 1988 / NDR Regulations 2024

The model

Meanwhile leases. Statutory demand. Managed end-to-end.

Four Square takes meanwhile leases on long-term vacant Use Class E commercial buildings, converts them to managed temporary accommodation under s.73 TCPA planning permission, and operates them for London borough councils under nomination agreements tied to the statutory homelessness duty — Housing Act 1996 Part VII and the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017.

For building owners

Guaranteed lease income on a vacant asset. No capital expenditure. No management obligation. A schedule of condition agreed before works begin, a sinking fund maintained throughout, and a building returned with improved EPC rating and fire safety compliance at lease end. The landlord's business rates liability ceases on the day Four Square takes occupation.

For councils

In-borough, managed, to-standard temporary accommodation at a fraction of current nightly B&B cost — with no council capital required under Track A nomination arrangements, or funded through LAHF under Track B commissioning partnerships. One accountable operator. Full compliance documentation. Excluded licence occupancy preserving the council's ability to recover possession when the homelessness duty ends.

The rating position

Buildings are operated under s.73 temporary planning permission describing the use precisely within the statutory homelessness framework. This preserves the non-domestic classification and keeps the hereditament on the business rates list. As a Registered Provider of Social Housing — registration in progress — Four Square qualifies for 100% mandatory business rates relief under s.43(6) LGFA 1988.

The model does not depend on permanent change of use. Buildings are returned to their original commercial use at lease end. The meanwhile use is documented, statutory, and legally coherent from day one.

Legal structure

Four Square Partners is incorporating as a Community Interest Company (CIC) in England and Wales. RP registration is being pursued in parallel with the Regulator of Social Housing. The CIC structure enables equity participation by ESG and social impact investors alongside grant and programme capital from CDFIs and foundation funders.

CIC incorporation and ICO registration in progress · London, 2026

Advisory board

We are building a small, senior advisory group. We are selective by design.

Four Square is at the stage where the right three conversations will open more doors than three years of cold outreach. If you have operated at director level in London housing, housing law, VOA rating practice, or social investment — and the model makes sense to you — we would like to hear from you.

Advisory — Housing operations

Former Director of Housing or Temporary Accommodation Director — London borough

You have operated a large temporary accommodation function. You know what councils need to see before commissioning. You have relationships with housing directors across London boroughs. You understand what "to suitability standards" means in practice — not in policy.

What you bring: Procurement intelligence. Council relationship network. Operational standards credibility. The ability to make three phone calls that Four Square cannot make itself.

Advisory — Housing law

Senior housing or property solicitor with meanwhile use and statutory homelessness experience

You have drafted or reviewed meanwhile leases, nomination agreements, and excluded licence frameworks. You understand the intersection of planning law, rating law, and housing management law well enough to see where the model is strong and where it needs legal precision.

What you bring: Document review. Legal coherence validation. Risk identification before it becomes a problem. Credibility with building owners' solicitors at heads of terms stage.

Advisory — Rating and VOA

Chartered Rating Surveyor with experience in commercial-to-residential reclassification disputes

You know how the VOA operates in practice — not in theory. You have handled hereditament reclassification proposals and understand how to structure a building's use and planning description to defend its position on the non-domestic rating list. You have seen the difference between what the law says and what the VOA does.

What you bring: Pre-occupation VOA engagement strategy. Rating list defence. Rates relief application management. The intelligence that turns a £100,000 annual rates liability into zero.

Advisory — Social investment

Senior figure from a CDFI, social lender, or impact investment fund with housing delivery experience

You have sat on investment committees deploying capital into social housing or meanwhile use models. You know what a CDFI or Better Society Capital investment committee needs to see before committing. You understand the difference between a model that sounds right and one that will survive due diligence.

What you bring: Investment committee intelligence. Capital structure advice. Network access to social lenders, foundations, and ESG-mandated investors who can fund the first buildings.

Advisory — Housing policy and research

Senior researcher or policy professional with published work on meanwhile use, temporary accommodation, or local authority finance

You are producing the evidence base that policy arguments need. You have access to the data, the networks, and the platforms where this model needs to be visible — select committees, think tank publications, GLA briefings, Inside Housing.

What you bring: Evidence base. Policy credibility. Research partnership. The data pipeline that turns operational delivery into publishable proof-of-concept for the sector.

Advisory — Housing association operations

Former COO, Development Director, or Housing Management Director from a mid-to-large registered provider

You have managed housing stock at scale. You understand what RSH regulatory standards look like in practice — not on paper. You have built the governance and management frameworks that the regulator expects and can help Four Square build them properly from the start rather than retrofitting them later.

What you bring: RP registration navigation. Governance framework design. Housing management operational standards. CIH qualification pipeline for the housing management team.

Advisory roles are light-touch by design — a conversation each quarter and occasional input on specific decisions. No board meetings, no formal commitments at this stage. We are interested in people who find the model interesting enough to want to see it work — not in collecting names for a website. If that describes you, the conversation starts below.

advisory@foursquare-partners.com capital@foursquare-partners.com

Building the team

Roles to take a building from meanwhile lease to first household placed.

These are the people we need to run the first building operationally — and to satisfy the RSH Competence and Conduct Standard from October 2026. We know exactly what each role does. We are building towards these hires as the first building comes into view.

01

Housing Management Lead

The operational heart of the first building and the RSH registration's most critical hire. You manage resident welfare, council relationships, day-to-day compliance, and the excluded licence framework. You are working toward or hold a CIH Level 4 or above. You have managed temporary accommodation or supported housing at officer-to-manager level and understand the statutory homelessness duty from the inside.

CIH qualified or working toward · RSH Competence Standard · London-based
02

Property and Compliance Manager

You manage the meanwhile lease process from heads of terms to handback — schedule of condition, planning applications, licensing, Building Regulations sign-off, fire safety documentation, and contractor relationships. You know the difference between what the lease says and what the VOA will do with it. RICS or equivalent background preferred.

Property law literacy · Planning and licensing · Building Regulations
03

Finance and Reporting Lead

You manage per-building P&L, RSH annual financial returns, council nomination fee invoicing, sinking fund accounting, and investor and grant reporting. You understand social housing finance standards — the RSH financial viability standard is not generic accountancy. Social housing finance sector experience is strongly preferred. You build the financial model that makes the next building easier to finance than the last.

RSH financial returns · Social housing finance · Per-building reporting
04

Building Operations Coordinator

You run the day-to-day building — smart access systems, maintenance scheduling, contractor coordination, monitoring, fire safety compliance records, and energy management. You are the person who prevents a maintenance issue from becoming a dilapidations claim. Technology-literate, detail-driven, and capable of managing a building remotely when needed.

Smart building systems · Preventive maintenance · Compliance records
05

Partnerships and Council Relations

You manage the council relationships that generate nomination agreements and build towards LAHF commissioning partnerships. You understand how housing procurement works from the inside — procurement frameworks, commissioning cycles, housing officer relationships, and what a housing director needs to take a proposal to cabinet. You have worked in or alongside local government housing functions.

Council procurement · Nomination agreements · LAHF pathways
06

Resident Support Worker

You are the daily human presence for residents living under excluded licence agreements — welfare checks, crisis response, safeguarding referrals, and the relationship work that keeps a building stable. You know how to de-escalate, when to involve statutory services, and how to keep records that protect both resident and organisation. You have worked in supported housing, temporary accommodation, or a frontline homelessness service. The Housing Management Lead sets the framework; you deliver it to real people, in real time.

Experience in supported housing or temporary accommodation · Safeguarding awareness · Excluded licence framework · London-based

These roles will be filled as the first building comes into view. If your profile matches and the model makes sense to you, write to team@foursquare-partners.com with a brief note on your background and which role interests you.

Start a conversation

Two ways in.

Advisory and expertise

Housing directors, housing lawyers, rating surveyors, housing association leaders, policy researchers.

If you have senior housing sector experience and the model makes sense to you — a 30-minute conversation is all we are asking for. No deck, no pitch, no commitment.

Schedule a conversation
Capital and investment

CDFIs, social lenders, ESG-mandated investors, foundations, corporate social value partners.

If you are considering deploying capital into the model — grant, programme, or structured — we share financial modelling and governance documentation under mutual NDA at the next stage.

Schedule an investment call