L&G rolls out £125m affordable housing fund

Legal & General has launched an affordable housing fund alongside a £125m commitment from Access, a collaboration of 11 local government pension scheme-administering authorities. The fund will invest in purpose-built residential developments in areas of acute need and demand across England. It will be managed by L&G’s asset management arm. At launch, the newly created investment vehicle will hold more than 750 homes, the majority of which will benefit from affordable rent, with the remainder being shared ownership and social rented homes. L&G Affordable Homes was established in 2018, with the aim of attracting new institutional investment into the asset class and increasing affordable housing delivery across the UK. The business now comprises 8,000 homes: 5,000 in operation and 3,000 in development with further capital secured to support its growth. Mark Kemp-Gee, chairman of the Access joint committee, said: “This allocation marks yet another key step in our initiative to diversify in private markets. We have been impressed with L&G’s history of delivery in the affordable housing space over a long period and believe this investment partnership will provide robust, stable, long-term financial returns for our members alongside meaningful social benefits.” António Simoes, group chief executive at L&G, said: “With acute demand for affordable housing across the UK, the public and private sector need to work together to drive change. “This fund builds on L&G’s ambition to scale our private markets platform and catalyse our own balance sheet investments by offering our clients new investment opportunities that aim to deliver compelling financial returns while tackling real-world challenges.”