The UK’s biggest investors, developers and agents have banded together in a pledge to drive new private sector investment into affordable housing.
The British Property Federation has established an affordable housing committee, chaired by Rob Beiley, partner at Trowers & Hamlins (pictured above, left), with Legal & General director Simon Century (right) as vice-chair.
The 17-strong board brings together leaders from Grainger, PGIM Real Estate, Federated Hermes and Man GPM, among others.
The group will work to enable investment in the sector, working with housing associations, local authorities and major stakeholders such as Homes England, the Greater London Authority and central government.
It will focus on delivering high-quality housing, in shared ownership, affordable and social rented accommodation. The committee will also lead the industry’s response to the government’s affordable housing consultations.
The move comes as institutional investment in the sector surges, through a number of landmark deals and partnerships.
Earlier this year, M&G Real Estate agreed a £500m partnership with Hyde Group to fund shared-ownership housing, in an industry first. PGIM launched a £250m affordable housing fund and others, including Watkin Jones, have established new business ventures dedicated to the sector.
Rob Beiley, chair of the BPF affordable housing committee, said: “We have seen exponential growth in the real estate industry’s investment in affordable housing in recent years, and I know that the industry has the capacity to deliver more.”
Vice-chair Simon Century added: “As ever-increasing levels of long-term capital seek to enter, now is the perfect time to be bringing together like-minded housing associations, institutions and advisers who can work with government to help tackle the huge supply, funding and sustainability issues the sector faces.”
Melanie Leech, chief executive of the BPF, added: “The real estate industry’s investment plays a significant role in the provision of affordable homes in the UK, yet this is poorly understood and there remain significant opportunities to maximise our industry’s investment in this sector.”
The BPF affordable housing committee
Rob Beiley, Trowers & Hamlins
Simon Century, Legal & General
Julia Bevan, Grainger
Chris Jeffs, M&G Real Estate
Peter Quinn, Watkin Jones
Charles Cleal, JLL
Charles Crowe, PGIM Real Estate
Natalia Kolotneva, LaSalle Investment Management
Catherine Webster, Quintain
Matthew Chillingworth, Federated Hermes
Olivia Harris, Dolphin Living
Tom Paul, Optivo
Debi Marriott-Lavery, Places for People
Kush Rawal, Metropolitan Thames Valley
Thomas Mudd, CBRE
Shamez Alibhai, Man GPM
Claire Kober, Pinnacle Group
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