AMBITIOUS EXPANSION PLANS

Recently Back on the Map has partnered with the Housing Strategy Team at Sunderland City Council to buy and refurbish five empty homes, optimising resources and working creatively together for positive change. Having achieved so much, Back on the Map now has further ambitious plans to expand its model of property management in the area. “With 800 to 850 properties still managed by about 350 private landlords here, there’s much more to do”, said Jen McKevitt. “We’re properly established now, financially sustainable and know how to manage the properties and tenancies. “We plan to buy 15 more houses, but to have the impact we really want, we need to expand that further so we’re talking to other groups that own property in the area to see if we can take those on. “Then we could have hundreds of properties in local control, better managed and contributing to a better community, and the income they generate can fund more activities to support the community in the future. “Back on the Map will never leave Hendon and will always be there to do the absolute utmost and invest in improvements. “Our agenda is not about our profit. All the negative impact of certain landlords and tenants completely lost any sense of control for local people. “Their community and their influence within it had eroded, their ability to have social interaction with their neighbours had eroded. And we’re building that all back up again.”