Edmond de Rothschild Real Estate Investment Management (REIM) has acquired a 119-unit residential development in Newbury for £34m (€39.7m) from Nelson Group for its UK affordable housing fund.
This acquisition marks the full deployment of Funding Affordable Homes’s (FAH) most recent fundraising round from Local Government Pension Scheme clients.
With the addition of Newbury, FAH’s portfolio comprises almost 900 homes across 11 schemes, valued at around £160m. Edmond de Rothschild REIM expects to grow the fund to more than £500m.
The recently completed Newbury development, which is the first phase of Sterling Gardens on Kings Road, will provide 27 apartments for social rent, 62 for affordable rent and 30 for shared ownership in six blocks.
The homes will be managed by Pinnacle, a nationwide housing services provider under a management agreement with Funding Affordable Homes Housing Association (FAHHA), the subsidiary housing association of FAH.
Adrian D’Enrico, fund manager of FAH, said: “Sterling Gardens provides 119 high-quality, attractively designed homes in an accessible, town centre location.
”The acquisition highlights the role that institutional impact capital can play in delivering new, additional affordable homes using grant subsidy to support viability.”
Richard McCarthy, chair-elect of FAH Housing Association, said: “We are delighted that our deeply experienced team has delivered these new homes into the affordable housing provision of Newbury, with the support of Homes England and West Berkshire grant subsidy.
”These new homes will help to alleviate local housing pressure, delivering positive social impact for the residents and the wider community.”
FAH, which is categorised as an Article 9 product under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, adopted an evergreen structure in November 2022 and in early 2023 it secured a £30m from Strathclyde Pension – the first investment of its new capital raising period, which is being used to fund the Newbury acquisition, along with grant subsidy from Homes England and the local authority, West Berkshire.
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