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A locally-based social enterprise has been given a benchmark award in recognition of its having traded for social and environmental purposes.

Housing Action is a charity and social enterprise working across Suffolk to help local people find homes even if they cannot easily access social or private rented accommodation.

It is now the largest provider of its type in East Anglia and is among the fastest growing Social Lettings Agencies in the UK.

Haverhill councillor Anne Gower, who is St Edmundsbury Borough Council's portfolio holder for housing, presented the Social Enterprise Mark to Housing Action.

The Social Enterprise Mark was launched on February 1, 2010, and builds on the pilot run by RISE, the voice for South West social enterprise.

It identifies organisations which meet defined criteria so that consumers can recognise businesses that are trading to benefit people and planet.

In being awarded the mark, Housing Action joins other ethical businesses such as Age UK, The Eden Project, Big Issue, The Phone Co-op and Suffolk Acre.

The Government estimates that there are 62,000 social enterprises across the UK, contributing £24million to the economy and employing around 800,000 people.

Recent research has found that social enterprises are twice as confident of growth compared with typical small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with 48 per cent of social enterprises saying they are positive about the future as opposed to just 24 per cent of SMEs.

Housing Action has developed a unique solution which takes the uncertainty out of the private lettings market for private landlords - they are guaranteed rental income continuously without any gaps between tenants.

This 'let and forget' model is proving very attractive to private landlords. It will now be available to landlords with properties in the St Edmundsbury area since St Edmundsbury became the most recent local authority to invest in Housing Action.

Other local authorities who have invested in Housing Action are now seeing a return on that investment - in one case the social return is 300 per cent better than anticipated.

Cllr Gower said: "I am honoured to be presenting the Social Enterprise Mark to Housing Action.

"Our investment into this charity will ensure that many more people will be able to find decent homes in our borough through increasing the options we have to offer.

"It is a marvellous idea that will hopefully stimulate business by providing a realistic return for private landlords, but which will also help the vulnerable in our community."

Jim Overbury, chief executive of Housing Action, said: “We’re really proud to have been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark, and it’s great that Anne from St Edmundsbury is the person presenting it to us.

"We work with a lot of local authorities delivering this scheme and the support St Edmundsbury have given us in developing our service in their area will ensure that we will be able to return their investment in us many times over for many years to come.”

Lucy Findlay, managing director of Social Enterprise Mark Company, said: “We are delighted to award the prestigious Social Enterprise Mark to Housing Action.

"With more and more opportunities opening up every day for social enterprises to deliver local services, the Social Enterprise Mark has an important role to play in helping people understand when their provider is genuinely socially motivated.

"The Social Enterprise Mark will be available across the country and we hope it’s as successful as Fairtrade, in helping people buy in a more ethical way."