A new estate agent business with a social enterprise twist is launching this month.

Urban Patchwork is an estate agent social enterprise for residential property sales and lettings. It will use the majority of its profits for homeless housing and support in London, and aims to provide a better deal for tenants.

Based by Greenland Dock on the border of SE16 and SE8, it will serve the surrounding areas.

The organisation is being founded by brother and sister team Toby and Tessa Gooding. Tessa said, “We are setting up Urban Patchwork with three key objectives:

• to meet demand for professional estate agent services
• to improve working practices and customer service standards within the industry
• to provide a way for the profits made through the sale and letting of London’s property to contribute towards homeless housing and support in the city.”

They are seeking volunteers for their board of housing, homelessness, social enterprise, finance and management experts who will advise on the direction of the organisation and have voting rights on how grants are allocated to homelessness initiatives.

During Urban Patchwork’s first year the organisation is unlikely to accrue any profits while it’s being established. However, the team will support people who have become homeless from the start by backing local charity the 999 Club (based on Deptford Broadway) with their awareness raising and fundraising efforts.

The 999 Club provides advice and support for people who are homeless to equip them with the ability and confidence to learn new skills, gain employment and find sustainable housing solutions.

The vision is for Urban Patchwork to be a hybrid between a traditional agent and an online broker and the go-to organisation for those wanting to buy, sell, let or rent residential property in London and the South East, while making a meaningful difference to people through funding homelessness and housing projects.