A newly established open-ended core UK affordable housing fund managed by Savills Investment Management (IM) has completed its first transaction by acquiring 100 homes from Park Properties Housing Association (PPHA).
The Savills IM Simply Affordable Homes fund has invested an undisclosed sum to acquire 11 sites located across the South of England, East of England and the Midlands regions.
The acquisition is one of a series of planned completions on a diversified portfolio of over 200 affordable rented and shared ownership homes through a partnership with Hornsearle Property Group-backed PPHA, Savills IM said.
Fund manager Dominic Curtis, said: “This first acquisition with PPHA is a significant achievement for the fund and underscores its strategic objective of addressing the UK’s housing challenges by delivering sustainable, affordable housing utilising the fund’s high-quality registered provider.
“The transaction gives us an immediate footprint across various geographies in the South and East of England and Midlands and allows us to start delivering our high-quality services to our customers from day one. These homes are a testament to our strategy of investing in properties that offer both social impact and attractive returns for our investors.”
Keith Exford, chairman of Savills IM’s affordable housing provider Simply Affordable Homes RP, said: “Simply Affordable Homes has been set-up to help address the housing crisis by attracting long-term private investment capital into the provision of more affordable homes for those in need.
“Today marks a landmark in our evolution where we start to provide a positive impact to our customers in the provision of high-quality homes and services.”
Guy Horne, CEO of Hornsearle Property Group, said: “This transaction with Simply Affordable Homes is a significant milestone in ensuring more long-term patient capital is being invested into the sector, giving more people high quality and much needed affordable homes.
“We are delighted in playing a crucial role in Simply Affordable Homes’ first transaction in the Fund and we look forward to working with the SAH [Simply Affordable Homes] team in the years to come.”
Back in April, Samsung Life Insurance, London CIV, Big Society Capital, Schroder BSC Social Impact Trust and Savills PLC invested £123m (€147.5m) as founding investors in the Savills IM Simply Affordable Homes fund, marking the fund’s first close.
At the time, Savills IM said Simply Affordable Homes RP will help the open-ended core fund acquire existing “income-producing stock through establishing strategic partnerships” with UK housing associations and other registered providers, freeing up capital for them to develop more homes.
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