What Link Group does

Link Group Limited is a registered society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, a registered charity in Scotland (SC001026), and a Registered Social Landlord (HAL 148) operating from Edinburgh. Founded in 1962 and serving more than 20,000 customers, it is one of Scotland's largest social landlords, providing affordable rented housing, shared ownership and shared equity home-buying schemes, sheltered housing for older people, and an integrated portfolio of advice, community wellbeing, care-and-support, and employability services.

The group's commercial architecture combines a housing-led core with a diversified service subsidiary. Link Housing is the primary social landlord brand; C~urb (C-urb 6 Ltd, wholly owned) operates mid-market and market rent lettings, property factoring, and a Private Sector Leasing scheme managed on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council. Tenant and resident engagement is delivered through the MyLink and MyPSL mobile apps, both integrated with an Aareon housing management system and supported by Filestream electronic document management. The Advice Services team uses ACM Solutions' Advice Pro case management system for welfare and money/debt advice casework, and the LinkGiving Trust provides charitable emergency funds to tenants.

Revenue mechanics are typical of a large UK housing association: regulated social rents, service charges, occupancy charges on shared-ownership properties, factoring fees on factored developments, letting-agent fees via C~urb Lettings, commercial lease income (C~urb Commercial Leases), and contract income from City of Edinburgh Council for PSL management. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; rents are set under Link's Rent Setting Policy, occupancy charges and factoring fees are administered individually, and letting/commercial terms are negotiated bilaterally. The group is private in legal form (no public ticker, no PE/VC ownership disclosed) and is governed by a Board of Management rather than shareholders.

Name

Link Group

Legal name

Link Group Limited

Website

https://linkhousing.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1962

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Link Group is a Scottish registered society and charity operating as one of Scotland's largest social landlords, providing affordable rented housing, shared ownership, property factoring, and private sector leasing to more than 20,000 customers across Scotland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Housing Services

NAICS

Rental and Leasing Services (532), Other Individual and Family Services (624190)

SIC

Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531), Services-Social Services (8300), Services-To Dwellings & Other Buildings (7340)

akta.pro primary industry

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Philanthropic & Charitable Trust Services (FSAAANAI)

Keywords

• Social housing services
• Affordable housing
• Property management
• Shared ownership
• Tenant advice services

Headquarters

HQ city

Edinburgh

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Link Group is one of Scotland's largest social landlords, providing affordable rented housing, shared ownership homes, property factoring, and private sector leasing to more than 20,000 customers. It operates the C~urb sub-brand for mid-market/private rentals, factoring and PSL services, and supplements its housing services with welfare and debt advice, the LinkGiving Trust, and community wellbeing programmes.

Product overview

Link Group operates as a social housing provider offering a unified platform of housing and property management services. The core offering includes affordable rented housing and property management, supported by digital tenant engagement tools (MyLink App and MyPSL Mobile App). The service portfolio spans multiple sub-brands: C~urb Lettings (mid-market rentals), C~urb Factoring (property factoring), C~urb PSL (Private Sector Leasing), and Shared Ownership schemes. Additional support services include Link Advice Services (welfare and money advice), LinkGiving Trust (charitable emergency funds), and the Gym Membership Project wellness initiative. The digital products connect to an Aareon housing management system backend.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MyLink: Mobile application allowing Link tenants to record service requests, access rent and payment information, and manage their tenancy.
• MyPSL
• LinkGiving Trust

Products and services

• Social Rented Housing Affordable rented housing for individuals and families across Scotland, managed directly by Link Group as a Registered Social Landlord. Tenants access rent information, report repairs, and manage tenancies via the MyLink app and customer service centre.
• Shared Ownership Affordable home ownership scheme allowing customers to purchase a share of a property while Link Group retains ownership of the remainder; buyers pay an occupancy charge and can increase or sell their share over time.
• Shared Equity Affordable home ownership scheme where buyers purchase a share with assistance, enabling access to home ownership for those unable to afford full market purchase.
• C~urb Lettings Letting agency providing mid-market and market rent properties under Private Residential Tenancy agreements for households with low to moderate incomes across Scotland.
• C~urb Factoring Property factoring services for owners in factored developments, overseeing maintenance, repairs, and improvements to common areas, with online reporting and payment tools.
• C~urb PSL (Private Sector Leasing) Management service for the City of Edinburgh Council's Private Sector Leasing scheme, managing all aspects of the PSL programme to provide quality homes for rent in the private sector.
• MyLink App Mobile application that enables Link tenants to access rent balance information, request repairs, update contact details, and manage tenancy-related service requests through Link's housing management system.
• MyPSL Mobile App Digital platform for C~urb PSL tenants and applicants to manage tenancy information, request permissions, check rent balance, receive updates, and communicate with C~urb PSL.
• Link Advice Services Free, impartial, and confidential welfare benefits, debt, and money advice service for Link tenants and shared owners, including income maximisation and benefit claim assistance.
• LinkGiving Trust Charitable trust set up by Link Group to provide emergency funds and awards preventing or relieving poverty among Link's tenants and service users.
• Gym Membership Project Pilot health and wellbeing project providing six-month Pure Gym memberships to participating Link tenants to support physical health and wellbeing.
• Access Ownership Affordable home ownership option provided through Link Group's housing options for buyers seeking an alternative path to ownership.

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• C~urb (C-urb 6 Ltd)coreOthersC~urb is a trading name of C-urb 6 Ltd, a company registered in Scotland that is part of the Link Group. C~urb operates C~urb Lettings (letting agent), C~urb Factoring (property factoring), and C~urb PSL (Private Sector Leasing on behalf of City of Edinburgh Council). Registered office: Link House, 2c New Mart Road, Edinburgh, EH14 1RL.
• City of Edinburgh CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLink Group, through C~urb PSL, provides a management service on behalf of City of Edinburgh Council to manage all aspects of the Private Sector Leasing scheme. The scheme provides quality homes for rent in the private sector.
• Larkfield Housing AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Link Group and C~urb on the revitalisation of Greenock's Larkfield Community Hall, upgrading kitchen facilities.
• Horizon Housing AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHorizon Housing Association is listed alongside Link Group and C~urb in relation to call recording services for housing management operations.
• West Highland Housing AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWest Highland Housing Association is listed alongside Link Group and C~urb in relation to call recording services for business support operations.
• Pure GymminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Pure Gym for the Gym Membership Project pilot, providing six-month gym memberships to participating tenants.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• LiveWest: Major south-west England housing association providing affordable housing, supported living and shared ownership. Similar size and mission to Link, though geographically focused on a different region of the UK.
• Clarion Housing Group: The UK's largest housing association, managing around 125,000 homes and offering a full spectrum of affordable housing, supported living and homeownership products. Closest direct peer to Link in terms of integrated housing-plus-services model.
• Hyde Group: UK housing association delivering affordable rent, shared ownership and supported housing across London and southern England. Comparable to Link on housing-plus-services mission and customer base.
• Home Group: Large UK housing association and social enterprise providing affordable rent, supported housing, shared ownership and advice services. Comparable to Link in combining housing provision with wider tenant wellbeing services.
• Orbit Group: Large UK housing association providing general needs, supported and shared ownership housing to over 100,000 customers. Comparable to Link in scale, customer segments and integrated housing-plus-support offerings.
• Sanctuary Housing Group: One of the UK's largest not-for-profit housing associations providing social housing, supported living and shared ownership. Directly comparable to Link Group in mission, scale and service mix across housing and tenant support services.
• Wheatley Group: Scotland's largest housing and care group, providing social rented housing, factoring, care and support services across Scotland. Direct domestic peer to Link Group given overlap in geography, tenant segments and service breadth.

Regional players

• Bield Housing & Care: Scottish housing association specialising in housing and support services for older people. Relevant peer to Link for its 'housing for older people' segment and supported/retirement housing focus.
• Eildon Housing Association: Scottish Borders-focused housing association providing affordable rented housing, shared ownership and factoring. Comparable Scottish regional peer to Link Group on service mix, though smaller in scale.

Broad incumbents

• Places for People: One of the UK's largest property management, development and lettings groups, operating across affordable housing, private rent, sales and build-to-rent. Broader and more commercial than Link, but overlaps on affordable housing and property management.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC_o9FLf5h0eCbYoZCOyyVBg
• Facebookfacebook.com/LinkGroupLtd
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/link-group_2
• Xx.com/link_group_ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Link Group