1. Why Hope into Action?

Until the end of March, I was working as a Sales Manager in an Estate Agency and enjoying it. With over 10 years in Estate Agency in Northern Ireland and England, I have sold property from £35,000 to £1.7m. I moved to Hope into Action at the beginning of April so that I could bring my experience of the property market and the buying/selling process to the table and to be able to marry that with my heart for helping others, my passion for the church and showing God’s love to a broken world.

2. Who will you be helping?

My role as ‘Property Development Coordinator’ means that I am here to help, to serve and assist investors – I want to ensure that we help people to make wise decisions when buying a property, to ensure that we are getting good value for money and good quality from the contractors when we look to appoint them to do any refurbishment works. I also want to help ensure the project works within a timeframe to suit meeting the demand from the next tenants. We must then ensure that we look after our tenants and provide a safe and a comfortable place that they can call ‘home’ as we help them to get back on their feet.

3. A Christian Estate Agent...?  How does your faith help you negotiate?

That may mean that I negotiate the purchase on behalf of the investor (should they wish).  As a Member of the National Association of Estate Agents, I know how to talk to them. Being a Christian and an estate agent was difficult at times – a profession where most people think you are a crook before you even meet. I enjoyed the opportunity to prove my integrity and deliver an honest service (shining a light in what can be a dark place). I also know how to see past the bluffing and when to push for the right price. I can often tell from how the property is presented online if it has been repossessed, rented out previously, is a probate sale or if it is likely to be a house-proud vendor trying to push the price a bit higher than the neighbours, because they have a bigger back garden or a conservatory.

4. The tragedies of Grenfell and recently Notre Dame are still fresh in many people’s minds.  How do you ensure that a home is safe for Hope into Action tenants?

One of the things that we have as a policy when we write up a specification of works for new properties is to change the doors of the bedrooms, kitchen and lounge to fire doors. This means they have an intumescent strip in the edges of the door and therefore, in the event of a fire, these doors would (if closed) create a seal and slow the speed of a fire spreading. This may buy the critical time needed for the residents to raise the alarm and escape. We also ensure that smoke detectors and heat detectors are fitted (mains wired rather than expecting the tenants to change the batteries). Thinking of this and the safety of my own family, I suddenly realised that the batteries had gone flat on the Carbon Monoxide alarm and smoke detectors in my own home, so I went and bought some new ones the other day. Have you checked yours lately?

5. What really motivates you in your role at Hope into Action, Jonathan?

I love buildings, they fascinate me, I could bore you by talking about damp proof courses, asbestos soffits, external insulation and rendering! But, so much more important than bricks and mortar are people (who are made in the image of Almighty God) and he wants everyone to have life in all its fullness (John 10:10).

As part of a Christian charity, I want to show God’s love to people:  at Hope into Action I can demonstrate that by ensuring that we have quality, professionally refurbished homes and that we have put safety measures in place to protect tenants in the event of an emergency.

Thanks to our amazing investors, Hope into Action now run 68 homes across the country with 11 more in the pipeline.  I am so excited to be able to guide new investors along their journey.  Please get in touch with me on 01733 558301 – I would love to hear from you.

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