ABOUT US

Capital Letters was set up to respond to London’s homelessness crisis. By working in partnership with London councils and private landlords, we help families find a secure and settled home. 

Our free service gives landlords easy and efficient access to suitable tenants across London.  Hundreds of landlords and agents already find tenants through Capital Letters.  

We look for good quality, affordable properties so families can move from temporary accommodation or avoid becoming homeless. We support both families and landlords to make sure the tenancy is successful. 

We are launching new landlord services and developing ways to increase housing supply for our member boroughs.

Capital Letters is a not-for-profit company with a clear social purpose. We are owned by our member London councils and backed by the Government. 

To find out more, read our corporate strategy.

View our corporate strategy
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Our Vision

Working in partnership to solve the homelessness crisis across the Capital creatively, innovatively, collaboratively and relentlessly.

Our Mission

The first choice partner for the Capital, leading the way to develop long-term sustainable solutions, providing local homes and supporting homeless Londoners to be successful.

Our Culture

One Team

Our Values

Collaboration

Accountability

Passion

Integrity

Trust

Agility

Learning

Our governance

The Borough Representative Body has sovereign responsibility for the governance of the organisation. Its central role is to lead the organisation and approve the strategic business plan and key strategic policies. Membership of the BRB includes one nominated representative from each of the member boroughs.  

Oversight, scrutiny, direction and control of Capital Letters is delegated to the Board of Directors. The Board has responsibility for the governance of the organisation. Its central role is to lead, direct, control, scrutinise and evaluate the organisation’s work. This includes determining strategic direction and key policies, establishing and overseeing control and risk management frameworks, satisfying itself of the integrity of financial information and ensuring the organisation achieves its aims and objectives.

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Our board

The Board is accountable to the Borough Representative Body (BRB) and chaired by Jackie Odunoye. The Chair and three non-executive directors (NEDs) are independent and appointed by open recruitment, and up to six NEDs are appointed from our member boroughs. The Board is supported by the chief executive, Sue Coulson. 

Capital Letters board member and deputy chair Laurence Coaker

ACTING Chair

Laurence
Coaker

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Capital Letters board member and Senior Independent Director Kenneth Beech

SENIOR INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR

Ken
Beech

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Capital Letters board member Denise Gandy


Denise
Gandy

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Capital Letters board member Fenella Beckman


Fenella
Beckman

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Capital Letters Board Member Jane West


Jane
West

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Capital Letters board member Julia Newton


Julia
Newton

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Capital Letters board member Paul Doe


Paul
Doe

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The Team

The day-to-day running of the organisation is delegated to the chief executive, Sue Coulson, who leads the Executive Team.

Chief Executive of Capital Letters Sue Coulson

Chief Executive

Sue
Coulson

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Director of Finance at Capital Letters Malcolm Wilson

Director of Finance

Malcolm
Wilson

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Elizabeth Harper Director at Capital Letters

Director of Operations

Elizabeth Harper

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You can apply for our latest vacancies here. If you want to know more about what Capital Letters does, you can read our business plan.

View the business plan

Working in partnership with

Logo for the borough of Barking & Dagenham
Logo for the borough of Bexley
Logo for the borough of Brent
Logo for the borough of Camden
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Logo for the Royal borough of Greenwich
Logo for the borough of Hackney
Logo for the borough of Hammersmith & Fulham
Logo for the borough of Haringey
Logo for the borough of Harrow
Logo for the borough of Havering
Logo for the borough of Lewisham
Logo for the borough of Merton
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Logo for the borough of Tower Hamlets
Logo for the borough of Waltham Forest
Logo for the borough of Westminster

Mark Baigent

Mark is as an independent consultant, with over 30 years’ experience in UK public housing and regeneration. He works with local authority clients to deliver estate renewal, town centre regeneration and innovative council-led new build delivery companies.   

In 2018, as interim Director of Housing for Tower Hamlets, he led the establishment of two pan-London collaborative enterprises to provide improved outcomes for homeless families; securing almost £50m in grants from the GLA and MHCLG, and being appointed as Chair of both PLACE Ltd and Capital Letters (London) Ltd. 

Laurence Coaker

Laurence is the Head of Housing Needs at Brent Council and has over 35 years’ experience of working in Housing. Previously, he led the housing needs service at Harrow Council, where he implemented the “Harrow Model” of prevention of homelessness, which was adopted nationally and helped form future government policy and legislation. He was subsequently seconded to the Department for Communities and Local Government (now MHCLG) as a specialist advisor, where he was part of the team helping local authorities to reduce their use of temporary accommodation by 50%.

Laurence has directly managed and improved front-line council services and has significant experience of partnership working at both regional and local level and has been a member of the Locata Housing Services board for over ten years.

Ken Beech

Driven by values, Ken is currently Director of Portfolio Management at Homes England, the government’s housing agency. He has substantial experience of financing housing in the private and social sectors and was previously a board member and vice chair of Tower Hamlets Community Housing.  

Ken is professionally qualified in corporate treasury and banking and has financed businesses of all sizes in most sectors, with a specialism in leveraged buyouts. He has led teams through substantial change and is a passionate advocate for inclusion and social responsibility, with further trustee experience with a children’s counselling charity.

Denise Gandy

Denise is Assistant Director of Housing Demand for Haringey Council. She was was previously Executive Director of Housing Demand at Homes for Haringey, with responsibility for front line advice and homelessness services, Hearthstone (a specialist domestic violence service) and the procurement and management of temporary accommodation.  

Denise has worked in housing for over 25 years, in a range of frontline and management roles relating primarily to housing needs and homelessness. She has also delivered service improvement projects and worked in strategy development. She is passionate about delivering excellent and inclusive services for households in housing need. 

Fenella Beckman

Fenella is the Head of Housing Services at Lewisham Council and has over 25 years’ experience of working in local government. Fenella is passionate about local government and has worked across several disciplines including housing, economic development, inward investment, innovation and service design, corporate strategy, development of strategic partnerships, corporate performance and change management. Fenella has devoted her career to narrowing the gap in outcomes for citizens and enabling them to live their best lives.

Currently Fenella is responsible for the Housing Needs and Refugee Services, Housing Policy and Partnerships, the procurement and management of Temporary Accommodation Services and the Private Rented Sector Service.

Jane West

Jane is a CIPFA accountant and has been Corporate Director of Resources and Section 151 Officer at Croydon Council since March 2022. She was previously the Chief Operating Officer and s151 for the London Borough of Havering.

She has been a member of the Society of London Treasurers for most of the last 20 years and is a past President of the Society. Jane spent nine years working in local authority housing finance at both the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and at the London Borough of Lambeth.

Jane was an adviser to the Capital Ambition Board for many years and is a passionate believer in local authority shared services. For three years she stepped away from being a chief finance officer and was the managing director for oneSource, the shared corporate service for Havering and Newham councils.

Prior to her time at oneSource, Jane held a leading role in the development of the Tri-borough corporate services across the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster.

Julia Newton

Julia is a chair, non-executive director and trustee of a number of companies and charities across a range of sectors.  She co-founded marketing agency, Shine Communication, which she helped grow over ten years from a team of two to over sixty, winning many awards including for people development.   

In 2009, Julia was appointed as a business advisor to the BBC One programme Village SOS, which was set up to help some of the UK’s most deprived communities.  She spent a year in a former coal‐mining village helping to raise funds  and set up a sustainable social enterprise. 

Currently Julia chairs GB Taekwondo, the organisation responsible for the preparation, management and performance of British athletes at the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games and at World and European Championships.  She is also founder and chair of the Rural Refugee Network, which has worked both regionally and nationally to resettle refugees from Syria in the UK.  Her areas of specialism include governance, risk management, business start–up and development, strategic leadership, people development and marketing.  Julia is passionate about supporting solutions to the crisis of homelessness and enabling people to start to rebuild their lives. 

Paul Doe

Paul recently retired from his position as Chief Executive of Shepherds Bush Housing Group after twenty years in the role. Whilst as CEO, he was also a founder member of both Placeshapers, the national network of housing associations, and Homes for Cathy, a group supporting housing associations’ role in homelessness. Paul has also worked for the Housing Corporation and the London boroughs of Richmond upon Thames, Westminster and Hammersmith. He chaired St Mungos for five years during a ten-year period on their Board and has also been chair of Wandle Housing Association. 

Paul was awarded an MBE for services to housing and homelessness in 2016. He remains interested in homelessness with positions on two homelessness charities. 

Sue Coulson

Sue joined Capital Letters in June 2019 as its first chief executive officer. She has extensive experience in social housing, both operationally and as a non executive director, and her driving force has been to make a positive difference, working innovatively and creatively to do so.

Prior to joining Capital Letters, she was director of partnerships at Rentplus and she has held numerous senior level roles in social housing, including as group director of housing and communities at DCH Group and as managing director of Three Valleys Housing and OGL Housing. She is currently a non-executive director of Westward Housing Group.

Malcolm Wilson

A highly motivated, qualified finance professional, with experience in the local government, private and third sectors.  Over the past 25 years he has worked in the housing sector as a Director at a number of housing associations, including three stock transfer start-up businesses, leading a variety of portfolios, including finance, governance, asset management, ICT and new build. He has also been a Board member on a number of housing associations, commercial companies and social enterprises and have particular interest in community regeneration.

In his career he has raised over £1.5 billion of funding for associations to deliver stock transfers, refinancing and new building programmes. 

Currently a local town councillor and secretary to the local chamber of trade

Elizabeth Harper

Elizabeth’s career in the voluntary and charitable sector has had a particular focus on homelessness and supported housing in London and the South.

 

Having held a range of roles which include having had responsibility for quality assurance, safeguarding, new business development, user involvement, volunteering and best practice she has spent the last decade as an Operational Director working collaboratively with Local Authorities to develop and deliver successful services.

She has also worked with organisations internationally to develop their practice in outcomes measurement and advising on homelessness policy implementation and brings a personal as well as professional commitment to endeavouring to make a positive difference to homeless people.