A fund managed by UK social housing investment manager Social and Sustainable Capital (SASC) has raised £58m (€63.2m) following a capital commitment increase from its backers as well as investment from new investors including the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).
SASC said the Social and Sustainable Housing (SASH) fund received the commitments from existing investors CCLA Investment Management, Big Society Capital, Garfield Weston and Tudor Trust, and also received capital from new investors including GMCA, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Virgin Money Foundation.
The SASH fund, structured to produce both commercial returns and significant impact, provides finance for “high performing social enterprises with a strong track record in the management of social housing to purchase properties”, the manager said.
“The Covid crisis has been an incredibly busy period for the front-line charities that SASH invest in and over £38.3m of the fund is already earmarked to help vulnerable people find high-quality supported housing,” SASC said.
SASC’s managing director Ben Rick said: “We see these increased stakes by our existing investors as a real endorsement of our strategy which allows investors to benefit from risk-adjusted commercial returns in an uncertain market through its reliance on property and stable government welfare payments.
“We are also really pleased that the GMCA has chosen to invest and we hope that we will see more local authorities and other institutional asset managers, foundations and family offices invest in the future.”
Paul Dennett, mayor of Salford in Greater Manchester and GMCA lead for housing and homelessness, said: “There is an urgent need to ensure that disadvantaged families and individuals have access to safe, decent, affordable and appropriate housing, and a much broader need to address a housing crisis that has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
“I am therefore pleased that we have invested in this fund and hope others will join us in doing so.”
James Bevan, CCLA’s CIO, said: “Following our initial commitment to SASH, we were pleased to see that the capital was deployed as expected with organisations that are focused on improving their clients’ lives through the provision of stable, good quality accommodation.
“We were happy to increase our commitment and continue contributing towards solutions that help alleviate the shortage of suitable social housing whilst generating a fair return for our clients.”
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