London CIV and the Church of England have committed a combined £104m to a affordable housing fund.
The investment was made through the Social Impact Investment Programme, a joint initiative between the church and the Local Government Pension Scheme pool.
In a press release, the investors said initial investment in the fund - managed by Man Group - would help finance more than 350 energy efficient, affordable family homes in areas of “constrained affordability”. Man Group aims to raise £300m to finance 1,000 homes over the next few years.
For London CIV, the allocation will sit within the LCIV UK Housing Fund, launched last year to invest primarily in affordable housing. It is the fifth investment made through this fund.
Christopher Osborne, head of real estate at London CIV, said the investmet in the Man Group fund “represents a compelling opportunity to partner with a quality manager in the affordable housing space”.
“We look forward to [the fund] driving returns for our underlying partner funds and through its impact framework accelerating the delivery of much needed new and quality affordable homes in the UK,” Osborne added.
Vanessa Morphet, head of social impact investment at the Archbishops’ Council, which oversees the church’s social impact investments, added: “Too many families are vulnerable to the UK’s housing crisis and are priced out of decent, stable homes in the communities where they want to live and work.”
Other pension schemes in the public and private sectors have been allocating to social and affordable housing investments as part of impact and local investment programmes.
In July, the ACCESS pool committed £125m to an affordable housing fund managed by Legal & General. In August, the Universities Superannuation Scheme acquired a portfolio of shared ownership properties for £405m from Sage Homes.
