Savills Investment Management’s (“Savills IM”) Simply Affordable Homes fund (“the Fund”) has made its second acquisition, with the purchase of 94 affordable rental and shared ownership homes in Bicester, Oxfordshire, from a local developer. The transaction was made through its for-profit Registered Provider, Simply Affordable Homes RP Limited.
The 94 income-producing homes are the first to be built in a diversified portfolio of 143 affordable rental and shared ownership units, and Savills IM will purchase the remaining 49 homes upon completion – expected between now and the end of the year. The energy efficient homes are built to a high specification and achieve a minimum EPC B certification.
The portfolio forms part of the award-winning Heyford Park masterplan, which includes plans to construct over 6,000 homes, 50,000 sqm of commercial space, a new railway station, school, and other key infrastructure. The major Oxfordshire regeneration project is expected to create over 3,000 new jobs and other socio-economic benefits for the local area.
Savills IM – which now manages €26.2bn of assets in the Living, Industrial, Debt and Natural Capital sectors across the UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific – launched its affordable homes fund in April last year, with equity commitments from institutional investors including London CIV, Better Society Capital, Schroder BSC Social Impact Trust plc, and Savills Plc.
The fund invests in and manages a diversified portfolio of affordable housing – comprising both affordable and social-rent homes, as well as shared ownership units, investing in built homes or on a forward commit basis.
UK affordable housing forms part of Savills IM’s conviction in the UK, European and Japanese Living sectors, where other funds or separately managed accounts are invested in single-family housing, multi-family build-to-rent, purpose-built student accommodation, and senior living. It manages a total of €2.9bn and c.9,000 units across these strategies.