Partners & capital
Four Square converts long-term vacant commercial buildings into contracted temporary accommodation — managed end-to-end, under statutory housing demand, generating stable occupancy-driven revenue. We are looking for partners who want to back it.
The proposition
The demand is statutory and growing. The supply of vacant buildings is structural and documented. Four Square manages the meanwhile lease, the conversion, the council relationship, and the day-to-day operation — generating contracted occupancy revenue from the moment a building is live.
We source and agree meanwhile leases on suitable long-term vacant commercial buildings — directly with owners. We manage planning, compliance, and conversion. We return each building in agreed condition at the end of the term. No sale, no permanent change of use.
Placement fees are agreed with London borough councils under their statutory homelessness duty — structured within housing benefit entitlements and benchmarked against current B&B cost. Occupancy-driven, recurring, tied to a statutory demand that shows no sign of contracting.
Every building is managed end-to-end by Four Square — maintenance, compliance, resident welfare, and building integrity. We are the single point of accountability to the owner, the council, and the regulator. Management is what makes unit economics work at scale.
Who we work with
Partners who bring capital, regulatory credibility, operational expertise, or policy reach — and who benefit from a model that delivers measurable, place-based outcomes.
Four Square turns community investment budgets into a measurable, board-reportable asset. Capital is deployed into a regulated, managed operation — tied to specific buildings, specific boroughs, and specific outcomes your sustainability and ESG teams can quantify, verify, and publish. No narrative. No approximation. Auditable social value at the unit level.
A Registered Provider with a growing portfolio of income-generating buildings, governed to RSH standards, with per-building financial reporting and a clear occupancy-driven repayment structure. For capital providers seeking regulated deployment at the intersection of social impact and real asset performance, Four Square is a vehicle built for exactly that mandate.
Programme capital deployed through Four Square generates institutional leverage — it funds the mobilisation that unlocks regulated occupancy income and draws in further capital at scale. For trustees seeking high-multiplier deployment of grant funding, the return is a replicable, borough-level delivery model with outcomes data that demonstrates programme effectiveness at the level your reporting demands.
Four Square offers academic partners privileged access to a live, regulated operational environment — the kind of real-world data and field access that drives REF impact, strengthens grant applications, and positions research teams at the forefront of urban housing policy. In return, we gain intellectual rigour, independent validation, and a direct pipeline of qualified talent into our operations.
Policy influence at scale requires operational evidence. Four Square gives research and advocacy organisations a live, replicable model — with borough-level cost data, delivery metrics, and regulatory standing — that transforms the case for meanwhile use from a theoretical proposition into a proven, citable intervention. We offer exclusive data access. In return, we gain the policy reach that shapes the environment we operate in.
Four Square offers technology partners a compliance-grade, revenue-generating deployment environment with a scaling building portfolio and genuine operational stakes in performance. Your platform reduces our cost base; our portfolio gives you a live, regulated, referenceable case study across multiple asset types. A co-development relationship where both sides have something real to gain — and real incentive to make it work.
How we run buildings
Efficient management at scale is not possible with traditional property management overhead. Smart building infrastructure is built into every conversion — reducing costs, protecting the asset, and providing the compliance assurance councils require.
Keyless entry across all residential and communal spaces. Remote access management, full audit trails, and immediate revocation. Contractor access on time-limited scheduled codes. Every entry logged — no physical key overhead.
IoT sensors tracking temperature, humidity, CO₂, and water anomalies across each floor. Issues are flagged before they become failures — preventing damp, mould, and the dilapidation claims that follow. Maintenance is predictive, not reactive.
Integrated fire alarm monitoring with automated notification protocols. Compliance records maintained digitally. Fire risk assessments scheduled, evidenced, and audit-ready — regulatory baseline managed without manual overhead.
Automated heating and hot water scheduling aligned to occupancy. EPC improvement is an active target in every conversion — buildings returned to owners with better energy ratings than they arrived with. Lower running costs protect margin per unit.
Working with us
We share information appropriate to each stage. No NDA required to see a summary — and no commitment required to have a first conversation.
A short call to confirm alignment of objective and partnership type. We explain the model. You explain your mandate. No documentation required.
Pipeline overview, delivery assumptions, governance and regulatory position, and indicative project structure — shared as a concise executive summary. No NDA required.
Specific building pipeline, financial modelling, legal structure, and RP registration documentation — shared under mutual NDA where requested.
Agreed structure: funding type, reporting obligations, governance, and the role each partner plays in delivery. Heads of terms drafted.
Regulatory position: Four Square Partners is completing registration as a Registered Provider of Social Housing with the Regulator of Social Housing under the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008. RP status underpins mandatory business rates relief, independent regulatory oversight, and eligibility for LAHF and GLA housing grant funding. Company registration number and RP certificate are provided in the detailed disclosure pack.
Start a conversation
If you are bringing research, operational expertise, technology, or programme funding — this is the conversation to start. We share a summary pack, no NDA required, and agree a structure that works for both sides.
If you are considering deploying capital into the model — grant, programme, or structured funding — we would rather have a direct conversation than a form. Financial modelling, governance documentation, and RP registration status shared under mutual NDA.
This page is for information purposes and does not constitute a financial promotion, investment offer, or regulated financial advice. Four Square Partners is not authorised or regulated by the FCA. Any funding commitment should be made on the basis of full disclosure documentation and independent professional advice.