Edmond de Rothschild Real Estate Investment Management (REIM) has raised £155 mln (€178 mln) of equity at the latest closes of its two UK residential investment funds.
The Edmond de Rothschild Residential Investment Fund UK, which invests in the private rented sector (PRS) with a focus on need and affordability, has raised £135 mln from European institutional investors following its second close.
Launched in August 2018, the vehicle has now raised £266 mln of equity, giving it total firepower, including debt, of around £450 mln, exceeding its original target of £400 mln.
It is creating a diversified portfolio of purpose-built PRS assets, delivering sustainable, stable and growing distributions over the long term. The fund’s first six assets are forward funding agreements in Leicester (two sites), Birmingham (two sites), Warrington and Nottingham, which, in total, will deliver around 1,400 apartments.
Funding Affordable Homes (FAH), a social impact company which builds and acquires affordable housing, has raised £20 mln at its first close since Edmond de Rothschild REIM was appointed as Property and Investment Adviser.
FAH’s new equity will enable it to continue delivering new affordable housing within the regulated housing sector, while providing investors with long and secure indexed-linked income streams. It has already acquired, or committed to acquire, around £170 mln of socially beneficial housing projects in London, the east and south of England and other parts of the country. It typically provides forward funding to enable new properties to be built and managed by local housing providers, while also utilising its own subsidiary housing association, Funding Affordable Homes Housing Association, to provide access to grant funding.
FAH’s current investors include Big Society Capital, and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, an independent Foundation, working to inspire social change through research, policy and practice.
James Whidborne, head of residential fund management UK at Edmond de Rothschild REIM, said: ‘We are delighted with the support shown by investors towards our social impact residential investment strategy, both for private sector build-to-rent and regulated affordable housing. We aim to grow our UK residential platform to in excess of £1 bn over the next 24 months.’
He added: ‘We believe the current environment provides an excellent opportunity to create a diversified portfolio of UK rental assets delivering the panacea of sustainable investor returns and genuine social impact. This is at the heart of Edmond de Rothschild’s core convictions.’
