THE HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS' CHARITABLE TRUST
Registered charity 1096829 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as HACT, HOUSING ACTION CHARITY
HACT is a charity, social enterprise and industry-focused think/do tank established by the housing association sector.Our aim is to work with the housing sector, government, civil society and communities to develop and share innovative approaches to meeting changing needs. We seek to influence and innovate in ways which help housing providers deliver more effectively within their communities.
Causes: The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Accommodation/housing · Economic/community Development/employment · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts
Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts
The accounts state that the charity ended the year with a net deficit on normal activities of £927,335, resulting in total unrestricted reserves of £1,038,010, which is below the board's target of £400,000 in cash-backed general reserves. To address liquidity risks associated with depleted cash reserves, the charity secured a £250,000 bridging loan facility in October 2025. The trustees consider the going concern basis appropriate, citing improved financial controls and forecasted performance from Retrofit Credits to replenish reserves.
Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.
What the accounts disclose
Reserves policy: £400,000 (held: £1.0m)
“The board has agreed to target to hold a cash-backed general reserve of £400,000 in order to have sufficient resources to cope with unexpected financial shocks and set-backs.” — page 21
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Subsidiary company
“At 31 March 2025 an amount of £17,033 (2024: £2,762) was due to HACTHAL, the subsidiary of the Charity.” — page 47
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Pension scheme deficit: £422k
“The pension liability is now £422,240 and this appears on our balance sheet.” — page 18
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: HACT Housing Action Ltd
“HACT has a fully owned trading subsidiary HACTHAL and the accounts include the results of HACTHAL” — page 19
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Accounts audited by Sayer Vincent LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.
Leadership, per the charity’s website
- Andrew van Doorn OBE — Chief Executive (source)
- Vicky Hoare — Director of Operations (source)
- Matthew Grenier — Business Development Director (source)
Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.
Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)
Cost of raising funds
£59k
Reported reserves equal ~0.0 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 4.8 months; benchmarks).
Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (100% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.
Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 1.2% of total income — below the median for charities its size (5.2%) (benchmarks).
Register events
- Received assets from another charity (11/06/2021) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
- Received assets from another charity (01/06/2021) — per the register’s event history; asset transfers typically record mergers or reorganisations.
- Caroline Pillay
- Gemma Ann Bell-Smith
- Martin Julian Bickers
- Mary Gibbons
- Michelle Suzanne Dawson
- Nigel Peter Wilson
- Peter Marsh
- Sarah Louise Thomas
- Shaun Holdcroft
Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).
Operates in: Northern Ireland · Scotland
Income and spending
Common questions
Is THE HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS' CHARITABLE TRUST financially healthy?
Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that the charity ended the year with a net deficit on normal activities of £927,335, resulting in total unrestricted reserves of £1,038,010, which is below the board's target of £400,000 in cash-backed general reserves. To address liquidity risks associated with depleted cash reserves, the charity secured a £250,000 bridging loan facility in October 2025. The trustees consider the going concern basis appropriate, citing improved financial controls and forecasted performance from Retrofit Credits to replenish reserves. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by Sayer Vincent LLP.
Government & lottery funding
Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).
Funders of similar charities
Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.
Charities like this
Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with HASTINGS AREA COMMUNITY TRUST.
Side by side with its peers
Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.