L&G acquires 390 shared-ownership homes from Orbit

Legal & General Affordable Homes has acquired 390 shared ownership homes from Orbit Group for nearly £35m. The acquisition has been funded by Legal & General’s Institutional Retirement division and is part of its plans to increase its investment in the affordable housing sector. The Orbit homes are distributed across 32 local authorities, located in the northern and southern Home Counties, the East Midlands, the West Midlands and Norfolk. Ben Denton, chief executive at Legal & General Affordable Homes, said: “Our vision is for everyone to have a high-quality, well-managed, sustainable and affordable home. Our business model balances the need for investors to see a fair and reliable return on their investment, while injecting much-needed additional capital to grow the affordable housing sector. “At the moment, housing associations around the country are managing to create under a third of the new homes that are required to meet current need due to lack of funding and high interest rates. By acquiring this stock, we are helping to ease pressure on local balance sheets so that they can then spend their limited funds in areas of real need.” Andrew Kail, chief executive at Legal & General Institutional Retirement, said: “These homes will help many people to get on the property ladder, while also providing long-term investment returns that can help us to deliver security in retirement for our pension holders.”