USS buys portfolio of shared ownership homes, while Railpen has established a renewable energy joint venture.
The £78bn universities scheme has acquired a portfolio of 3,000 shared ownership homes from Sage Homes in a £405m deal.
The pension scheme bought Sage Housing Limited from investors Blackstone and Regis Group – which jointly established Sage Homes in 2017 – and has renamed it as Sparrow Shared Ownership.
According to a press release announcing the deal, the transaction is the largest acquisition of shared ownership property since the shared ownership scheme was launched in 1990. The portfolio includes homes across the UK in 250 locations.
David Avery is the chair of Sparrow Shared Ownership’s board. He has a 20-year track record of serving on the boards of several housing associations.
Avery is joined by Andrew Rose, who has led both the Homes and Communities Agency and Infrastructure UK as chief executive, and Amanda Davies, former CEO of Welsh housing company Pobl Group.
Also on the board is Sarah Wall, who has significant experience investing in infrastructure at Prudential, the Pension Protection Fund and Aviva. Wall is also a former head of investment risk at Pension Insurance Corporation.
Eamon Ray, head of private credit and alternative income at USS Investment Management, said: “Sparrow Shared Ownership will provide further capital into the UK shared ownership sector, and we look forward to supporting the Sparrow team in delivering on their vision for the organisation.
“This investment allows USS to use its long-term capital to support the multi-decade nature of Sparrow’s business plan while supporting the UK social housing sector.”
Railpen’s wind power join venture
Meanwhile, the £34bn Railways Pension Scheme has established a joint venture with Scottish renewable energy company GreenPower to build a wind farm in North Argyll on the west coast of Scotland.
Once completed, the Barachander facility is expected to generate 66 megawatts of electricity. It is currently at the “pre-planning consultation stage”, according to Railpen, with a planning application expected to be submitted later this year.
Railpen and GreenPower already co-own a 46MW wind farm at Carraig Gheal, close to the new site. GreenPower plans to use energy from this facility to power the creation of clean hydrogen for fuel cells.
“With the addition of Barachander, Railpen will be supporting energy provision for the equivalent of over 250,000 homes across its renewable assets’ portfolio,” the scheme said in a statement.
GreenPower CEO Rob Forrest said: “Our partnership with Railpen is a very positive one, and it is brilliant that our own independent Scottish company and the country’s railway workers can combine our resources in this way, to not just create new green energy, but to make a difference to people locally and nationally.”
Tim Grimstone, investment manager at Railpen, added: “The government’s recent push to accelerate onshore and offshore wind development aligns perfectly with our goals, including our pledge to achieve net zero across our investment portfolio by 2050.
“Partnering with the team at GreenPower helps us to achieve these goals, while the Barachander project itself will also provide substantial social and economic benefits.”
The new investments come as the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association has set out a series of measures to improve the investment ecosystem for UK private market assets, including social housing and renewable energy.
Further reading
UK pensions: Scaling for success – PMI comment (12 August 2024)
How to get pension schemes investing in productive assets (12 August 2024)
TfL Pension Fund acquires wind farm (13 March 2024)
