Join us and share our vision of an open source, open book , and open social enterprise.

The UK’s prime minister, David Cameron, outlined a bold new vision for a smarter state last week, outlining how;

That was followed by one of his minsters confirming how social enterprises 
outperform mainstream small & medium businesses in almost every area of business.

And shortly after by much speculation about the future nationalisation then privatisation of housing associations - following the Prime Minsters confirmation that housing associations are part of the public sector and his view that they aren’t particularly efficient or effective at what they do.

Together with the wide support we have received so far by email, in person and via social media, these have reaffirmed our commitment to establishing 4Vie as a Viable, Independent and Ethical #4thway to providing genuinely affordable rented homes in the UK.

A social enterprise with just one social purpose - to provide genuinely affordable homes  for those locked out of home ownership, social housing or stuck in high cost & insecure private renting, and provide them with a share in it. A new, European based model. One that would rather see customers online than inline. Independent rather than dependent on government. Mutual rather than disassociated from the public. Not social housing as we know it.

Our recent startup crowdfunding campaign was not a resounding success, but we have taken many positives from it. Via messages of support in person, by email and via social media, and via lessons from similar ‘insurgent’ companies who originally failed to spark the imagination such as Amazon, Twitter, AirBnb and Uber,  but are now $bn  going concerns.

These are the companies with whom we share a common purpose: reinventing an existing model with a superior consumer experience which offers better value: for customers and investors. 

And we have much in common with many of these companies . Their basic idea and value proposition now seem obvious, but this was not always the case in their early days. 

The biggest ideas are not clear when you first see or hear them, either because the idea seems too small, regulations are high, or the fundamental assumption seems flawed. But successful companies often start with executing very well on an initial concept that is the beginning to a much bigger offering.

AirNB co-founder Brian Chesky recently outlined the problems with perception for new companies on the block: 

Our bigger offer is Viable. We can deliver genuinely affordable homes without any government subsidy, and the rented housing which the public, the economy and the UK wants and needs.

Join us as we take forward our vision of an open source, open book and open social enterprise. 
#WhatIfWeCan
#BeTheChange
@4vieUk

We all know the UK needs more homes. In some areas. But we need to overcome planning blockages - especially over affordability in key areas of housing demand. Our model of affordable rent could do just that. 

Nobody in their right mind could describe a shared onwership home worth £1m as genuinely affordable, and even with a 20% discount, Lucian Cook has shown that starter homes in most areas of the country will be unaffordable.

Key developers such as Redrow have announced that the government’s 1% social rent cut in July has created a “hiatus” amongst housing associations that will affect their delivery, and Build to Rent (Built on a premise of market rents, when market rents in key cities are already at 50% or more of average incomes) will not alone address affordability.

But with our model of 65% of rents at market rents and 35% at average incomes within a local area, affordability takes on a new light in key areas of demand.

And as a model which is specifically targeted at the generations currently locked out of home ownership or stuck in expensive and insecure private renting, what’s not to like?

If you’re a developer, landowner or investor looking for a viable, independent and ethical way to address any current or future affordability blockages to securing planning, get in touch to discuss how we could help turbo charge the new homes so clearly needed.

We’ve had amazing three weeks since launching the 4Vie start up crowdfunding campaign.

From a standing start;

• On Twitter we’ve attracted 1,200 followers, amassed 113,000 impressions, and gained on average 11 retweets and 15 favourites per day &
• On Facebook, we’ve attracted 60 followers, had over 200 likes and reached over 20,000 people with our posts

But we’re clearly not converting the hearts and minds who support what we’re trying to achieve into successful funding of our phase 1 start up campaign. 

If we had £1 for every one of those impressions, and £4 for every one of those retweets we would be well on the way to  starting to deliver . And without the start up costs, we may not be able to deliver the ethical fourth way the millions who are locked out of home ownership or social housing, or trapped in expensive and insecure private tenancies so desperately need.

So what makes 4Vie a viable , independent and ethical entity worth putting your money into?

Start up costs we’re seeking are those  just to get us off the ground.

• £25k in fees just to get us through the door on the governments PRS guarantee Scheme
• £60k to cover the costs of 4vie partners and associates time and work on making that and the remaining financing we seek to become a reality - the equivalent of a full time CEO, split between those who want to make it a reality but can only do it on a P/T basis
• And £15k for other costs such as promotion and marketing of the 4Vie way to developers and potential partners.

We’ve done everything so far on a shoe string and from our own pockets, and are certainly not seeking any ‘fat cat’ salaries to deliver the 6,000 homes we aim to provide.

We want to set up 4Vie because we believe in the value it will deliver, not for the value it might provide those delivering it

So What’s different about the 4Vie offer?

We’ve attempted to outline the key aspects in our FAQ’s section, but here’s a quick summary to compare against

What difference can 4Vie make?
4Vie can't promise a home for everyone. But it can;

• help to meet the aspirations of thousands of those who yearn for a place to call home on a long or short term basis, and 
  
• offer a genuinely meaningful and purposeful home for donations, investments and support

And aside from the immediate benefits of providing genuinely affordable, long term rented homes which are available to all modelled on successful European approaches, there are others such as:

• Some of that £3.5bn of the governments PRS Guarantee Scheme being used ethically - rather than bolstering an existing PRS sector and developers who are geared and motivated purely by profit
  
• Helping to boost the economy, through providing affordable homes for workers who are priced out of working in some areas, and boosting the number of local builders involved in building those homes for them.

What Difference can you make?
Every £ will contribute towards delivering a more ethical basis for renting homes than the 'highest return possible' approach currently being delivered.

As Winston Churchill eloquently put it;
‘We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give’.

Go on. #BeTheChange.

Visit our crowdfunding page and donate as much or as little as you like, or just share the message via email or social media with your friends and encourage them to donate or support 4Vie.

Thanks for reading, and supporting us.