and claims the charity has been failing some tenants. it doesn t feel like home, it feels like a prison. it was destroyed, absolutely destroyed. i ve never seen anything like it. we ask, is public money being exploited for private gain? it s a really wild west system i and the winners are the people creaming off quite often very large profits. - boats like this don t come cheap. most people would never have the opportunity to own a boat like this. it would cost you more than a couple of hundred grand, and you can see why. one just like this was bought by a property developer called paul o rourke. here he is explaining his business model. we are a private limited company that buys properties for one price, develops them, and sells them for another and that s what we do as a business. there is a bit more to it than that. and it s all about the housing benefit that can be claimed to house vulnerable people who need support. the government calls it exempt accommodation. exempt ac
and that s what we do as a business. there is a bit more to it than that. and it s all about the housing benefit that can be claimed to house vulnerable people who need support. the government calls it exempt accommodation. exempt accommodation is a particular type of supported housing which is exempt from having benefit regulations, which means you can charge a higher rent. while there are good providers of this type of housing, there is mounting evidence this taxpayer funded system is open to exploitation. it s a really wild west system and the winners are the people creaming off quite often very large profits. you and i are paying for this situation every day that we pay tax. paul o rourke works closely with a charity called my space housing solutions. it is a registered provider of social housing. this is the village of north wingfield in derbyshire. in 2018, paul o rourke bought arcam house here. my space took a 20 year lease on the property and used it to house and supp
My space have consistently told us there is nothing inappropriate about paul 0 rourke s relationship with the charity, but we have discovered some members of my space s board have connections to him or his businesses. my space says it is looking at its governance procedures. as a result of engaging with panorama, trustees, who are employees or former employees of mr o rourke or his companies, will be stepping down from the board in the coming weeks. the regulator of social housing is worried about other charities having close relationships with property developers.
I regard it as totally inappropriate. we ve learntjust how financially dependent my space was on paul o rourke. in 2020, he donated virtually all the money my space says it spent supporting its tenants, £6 million. he had a stranglehold over the charity, was able to get the charity to do whatever he wanted, because they relied on him. they were dependent on him. we have also discovered that paul o rourke owed the charity a small fortune, £4] million. my space say £2.2 million has been repaid, with the rest due next month. documents from 2018 2021 appear to show my space agreeing to pay loans at the request of paul 0 rourke s company, enabling homes.
And other fees. he also denies doing anything immoral. but could there be a conflict of interest between the charity and the property millionaire? i have been past evidence, internal documents that raise more questions about paul 0 rourke s relationship with my space after he says he stepped away in 2016. it shows he was invited to my space board meetings and was copied into charity e mails. we showed this evidence to an expert in charity law. mr 0 rourkes was personally involving himself in the management of the charity. do you think it s an appropriate relationship?