Housing Associations' Charitable Trust

Housing Associations' Charitable Trust (HACT), founded in 1960 by the UK housing association sector, is a charity and social enterprise dedicated to pioneering innovative solutions for housing challenges, poverty prevention and relief, and housing-linked economic and community development. Its mission empowers social housing providers, government, civil society, and communities to achieve better outcomes for vulnerable groups through sector-wide innovation, evidence-based practices, and collaboration. Guided by principles of inclusivity, community benefit, partnership, and the conviction that everyone deserves a decent home, HACT acts as a think/do tank and innovation hub, leading in social value measurement, policy influence, and toolkit development for the non-profit housing sector.

HACT funds initiatives tackling poverty, access to safe accommodation, tenant health and wellbeing, housing affordability, digital inclusion, tenancy sustainment, and community-led housing. Beneficiaries include children and young people, older adults, disabled individuals, ethnic minorities, low-income residents, and other marginalised tenants of social housing. Supported activities encompass grants, research, advocacy, technical resources, pilots, and emergency responses like fuel poverty schemes or COVID-19 aid, primarily for charities, social landlords, voluntary bodies, and local authorities.

Eligible applicants are UK-registered charities and similar entities with medium-to-large scale and sector alignment; no geographic restrictions apply across the UK (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland). HACT does not accept unsolicited applications, operating via invite-only strategic commissioning, partnerships, and targeted programmes with no open deadlines or fixed meetings. Typical grants range from £50,000 to £500,000 for projects, excluding direct individual funding, core costs, unrestricted support, or capital builds. Distinctively, HACT fosters long-term systemic change through trusted sector connections, co-development, and catalytic tools that elevate housing as a force for social good.