A long-vacant London commercial building with warm amber light in its windows, returning to life as community accommodation on a quiet residential street.

Rethinking housing through vacant property reuse

London has empty buildings — and people with nowhere to live. We connect the two.

We bring London's long-term vacant buildings back into use as community accommodation — owners retain their asset while we manage and operate the building at no cost to them, and councils gain homes within their own borough.

I own a propertyI'm from a local authority

For property owners & asset managers

A vacant building rarely stands still on the balance sheet.

Security, maintenance, insurance, utilities and business rates keep running whether or not anyone is inside.

A property owner and a Four Square representative reviewing documents together in a warmly lit London office, discussing a building reactivation partnership.

  • Ownership retained

    You keep full legal title throughout, and exit on agreed notice.

  • Reversible

    A fixed-term arrangement; the building reverts to its original use.

  • Hands-off

    We run planning, works, compliance and management end to end.

Used as homes, in full. Because Four Square is a not-for-profit, each building is converted and occupied wholly as community accommodation for people who need it — genuine, full use of the whole building is what makes the model work, for you and for the council.

The detail

Four Square works with owners of suitable long-term vacant buildings to bring them back into use as community accommodation — without a sale and without losing control. You retain full legal ownership throughout. The arrangement is time-limited and reversible: the building returns to you in its agreed condition at the end of the term, supported by a clear reinstatement undertaking.

We take on the complexity in between — feasibility, planning, adaptation, compliance and day-to-day management — so an asset that was costing you money becomes a building that is occupied, maintained and doing good. Where a building is mortgaged, lender consent is part of the process and something we plan for from the outset.

Placements are managed, supervised, and supported within a clear operational framework designed to ensure safety, stability, and building integrity.

Explore what this means for your building

For local authorities & housing teams

In-borough homes, not out-of-area placements.

Demand for temporary accommodation keeps rising while suitable, in-borough supply keeps shrinking — and nightly-paid placements keep climbing against a frozen subsidy.

A housing officer and a family reviewing a tenancy agreement in a bright, self-contained flat recently reactivated from a vacant London building.
  • Homes inside the borough
  • Self-contained, family-suitable units
  • Managed and maintained throughout

  • In-borough

    Self-contained homes inside your borough, not out-of-area placements.

  • Managed end to end

    We handle planning, conversion, licensing, compliance and management.

  • Transparent

    Fixed-term and auditable, built to your suitability and safeguarding standards.

The detail

Four Square creates self-contained, move-on-ready accommodation by reactivating long-term vacant buildings in your area — homes inside your own borough, not out-of-area placements. We handle the housing framework, feasibility assessment, planning, adaptation, licensing and ongoing management. You nominate the households; we run the building to the standards you already require.

The aim is straightforward: increase sustainable accommodation supply, bring underused assets back into use, and ease the pressure on your general fund — through a transparent, auditable, fixed-term partnership, on terms you can benchmark against your current placements.

We provide managed accommodation for people in housing need through structured referral pathways in coordination with the relevant local authority. This includes key workers, individuals and households requiring temporary or transitional accommodation support.

Explore what this delivers for your council

How it works

One practical line between two problems.

A clear, flexible-term path from an empty building to managed community accommodation — and back again at the end of the term.

  1. Feasibility

    We assess the building and its local planning position first — and only proceed where it stacks up.

  2. Agreement

    A flexible-term arrangement: the owner keeps legal title and a clear reinstatement undertaking is set out.

  3. Conversion

    Planning, adaptation and compliance — brought up to the fire-safety, HMO and building standards councils require.

  4. Management & handback

    The council nominates households; we manage the building throughout, and return it in its agreed condition.

Partners & capital

Backing the model: capital, programme and technology partners.

We're building a portfolio of vacant London buildings reactivated as managed temporary accommodation — under statutory demand, managed end to end. We work with capital providers, foundations, universities, policy bodies and technology partners who want to help scale it.

165,000+households in temporary accommodation in LondonMHCLG 2025–26
20m sq ftvacant commercial office space in LondonJLL London, Q1 2026

See how partnerships work

Start a conversation

Book a 20-minute introductory call.

Whether you own a building that's standing empty or you're commissioning accommodation for a council, the first step is the same: a short, no-obligation conversation about whether the model fits.

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