Four Dutch pension funds have backed a domestic residential fund, with €75m committed.
Fund manager Amvest said the institutions had backed its Residential Core Fund and that it would use the capital to develop and strengthen its portfolio.
Speaking at Pensioenforum in Scheveningen late last year, Wim Wensing, director of investment management at Amvest, said larger pension funds had begun to show “growing interest” in the asset class.
He added that Dutch pension funds’ appetite for domestic property was returning as the market bottomed out, and that investors were focused on high-quality retail centres and domestic property in growth areas, pointing to the Dutch Randstad, where occupancy rates are increasing.
Free-market sector rental homes are, Amvest said, generating “keen interest among institutional investors”.
“As a result of the recovering housing market and amended legislation, investors consider this an excellent time to add residential properties to their portfolios,” the company said.
“The great demand for mid-priced rental homes will continue unabated for some time to come.”
Recent Amvest acquisitions include a residential project on the former northern sports ground in Haagkwartier, Leiden.
The firm’s ARC Fund has the right of first refusal on all rental homes developed by Amvest.
Residential properties in the portfolio are around 10 years old.
The fund had 6,000 homes in its portfolio at the close of 2014, worth around €1.1bn.
