For-profit launches £100m joint venture with institutional investor

News26.05.213.30 PM by Dominic Brady

A for-profit provider of social housing has entered a joint venture with a European real estate investor, which has an aim of acquiring £100m of assets.

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A for-profit provider of social housing has entered a joint venture with a European real estate investor, which has an aim of acquiring £100m of assets #UKhousing

Oak Housing and investor Patron Capital are targeting an investment size of between £10m and £20m, with an initial focus on affordable housing in London boroughs.

The two organisations will look to acquire and convert suitable properties for the provision of general needs homelessness, temporary housing, Section 106, key worker and shared ownership opportunities.

Oak Housing and Patron Capital have completed their first acquisition with the purchase of Kings Paget Hotel in Hillingdon. The 14,000 sq ft former hotel was bought for £4m and will be refurbished for use as high-quality affordable housing by public sector partners.

Oak Housing registered as a for-profit with the Regulator of Social Housing in June 2016. Its most recent financial statements from the year to August 2019 show it posted a profit of £16,319, down from £56,850 the previous year.

Patron Capital Partners represents approximately €4.3bn of capital across several funds and related co-investments, investing in property, corporate operating entities whose value is primarily supported by property assets and distressed debt and credit-related businesses.

Lanek Banga, chief executive officer of Oak Housing, said: “The past 12 months has been one of the most challenging environments the sector has seen in generations, and over this time it has become clear to us that great-quality affordable housing is the bedrock of creating safe, healthy communities.

“This has inspired us to do more. To this end, we are delighted to be entering into partnership with Patron Capital to increase our portfolio of affordable homes across the country.”

Keith Breslauer, managing director at Patron Capital, said: “Social purpose is a core pillar to Patron Capital, both in how we do business and in our philanthropic efforts, so this joint venture with Oak Housing was a natural next step for us.

“With more than 84,000 households in temporary accommodation in England and one in 53 people in London impacted by homelessness, it has never been more important to align our business activity with the needs of those around us, and we look forward to working with Oak as we build our portfolio in this space.”