Savills Investment Management’s (“Savills IM”) Simply Affordable Homes fund (“the Fund”) has completed its first acquisition of 100 homes from Park Properties Housing Association (“PPHA”). This is the first step in the Fund’s mission to increase the supply of high-quality Affordable housing in the UK.
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 HSPG-backed PPHA. The properties, located across the South of England, East of England and the Midlands, are spread across 11 sites and provide the Fund with a good geographic base for future acquisitions.
The portfolio comprises a mix of already-tenanted homes and homes that will be completed in 2024 and 2025 on a forward commit basis, enabling more people to access high-quality homes and services, with the associated positive impacts that both can have on people’s lives. The homes are built to Energy Performance Certificate B standards, helping customers to manage energy costs.
Savills IM announced the first close of the Fund in April this year. It will invest in and manage a diversified portfolio of affordable housing, comprising both affordable and social-rent homes as well as shared ownership homes, in an open-ended core product designed for institutional investors seeking a low risk, inflation-linked income stream while also delivering a positive social impact.
The Fund operates under enhanced governance frameworks and a responsible investment strategy. It has a ‘Theory of Change’ impact framework designed in conjunction with The Good Economy, focussed on social impact but including also a series of forward commitments for reducing carbon emissions over time.