IPD/IPF CONFERENCE: Institutional investors are eager to invest in UK social housing, but housing associations have “little or no demand” for their participation, according to a panel of experts at the IPD/IPF Conference this morning.
“Housing associations are focused on managing existing stock rather than expanding aggressively,” said Professor Michael Oxley of the Cambridge Centre for Housing Planning Research.
Housing associations have predominantly used bond financing since 2007, and are relatively uninterested in equity from institutions, he said.
“Housing associations don’t see financing as the core problem. Availability of land and other factors of production preoccupy them more than flows of finance,” said Oxley.
Andrew Allen, head of global property research and strategy at Aberdeen Asset Management, said: “As a nation, we are incapable of providing enough housing. It’s a huge problem and it won’t go away. But housing associations are not that interested in what we have to say. I just cant see large scale institutional participation in social housing in the near future.”
