5th June 2020

Capital Letters, a not-for-profit company, owned by 16 London boroughs to prevent and relieve homelessness across the capital, has appointed a new Director of Operations – Elizabeth Harper and a Head of Acquisitions – Roy Dunbar.

Over the next three years, Capital Letters plans to procure over 20,000 properties for homeless households, reducing member councils’ costs and keeping families close to their communities – something which has often been very hard for London boroughs to do.

Elizabeth Harper has been appointed to lead Capital Letters’ operations, including procurement of homes for homeless households and our vital tenancy sustainment service as well as the development of our housing management and customer services. Elizabeth has a background in social and supported housing and joined Capital Letters in March as part of the Executive Team led by Sue Coulson, Chief Executive.

Director of Operations, Elizabeth Harper, said: “Having spent the majority of my career working to deliver excellent outcomes for homeless people I am very pleased to be part of this innovative company and to assist our member boroughs to address some of the intractable issues facing them. I am focussed on leading the team to bring the best experience for our borough members, the landlords we work with and – most importantly – supporting households to sustain their tenancies in our endeavour to house London’s homeless families.”

Head of Acquisitions, which is a new position at Capital Letters responsible for the procurement service, has been taken up by Roy Dunbar. Roy, who joined the team in April, has extensive experience of procuring accommodation for homeless households having worked in this area for a number years and for a range of London Boroughs. We are delighted that he has joined us at an important time in our development as we welcome 3 new London borough members to the Capital Letters family and step up our activities as a consequence. Roy’s timing couldn’t have been better as we are also now supporting our member boroughs to procure homes to enable them to house rough sleepers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chief Executive, Sue Coulson said: “With Elizabeth and Roy now in post, we will be able to accelerate our procurement activities and provide the best possible service for our members and the people they house. I am delighted to have them both on our team. Both have a wealth of experience which is essential to the growth of Capital Letters and essential to ensure we achieve our targets and that our tenancy sustainment service is best in class, enabling families to successfully secure their future and put down roots in their communities.”