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For-profit provider recruits new stock acquisition boss from Hyde
For-profit housing provider Legal & General Affordable Homes (LGAH) has recruited Hyde’s director of stakeholder and investor relations.
Catherine Raynsford will join LGAH as managing director of stock acquisitions.
She will lead the provider’s work in buying existing occupied affordable homes, retrofitting acquired stock and development of large-scale partnerships with registered providers of affordable housing.
LGAH said Ms Raynsford’s appointment will support the provider’s focus on building longer partnerships with housing providers, where there is scope to undertake “repeat transactions at scale” and deliver more affordable housing.
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Buying and retrofitting existing homes allows partner providers to reinvest capital into more housing in areas of acute need, the for-profit explained.
Ms Raynsford has over 20 years’ experience in the housing sector. At Hyde, she led the establishment of the association’s investment function and spearheaded its delivery of affordable housing in partnerships with institutional capital.
Her prior experience also includes a senior client-facing role at JLL and development positions at other housing associations, including L&Q.
Ms Raynsford said: “I am pleased to have joined LGAH at a pivotal point for the business and look forward to helping deliver its next phase of growth through the acquisition of large tenanted portfolios and partnerships with the sector, while placing sustainability at the heart of our approach.”
LGAH was established in 2018 as pension giant Legal & General’s wholly owned developer and operator of affordable housing. The for-profit provider has invested £1bn to date and built a portfolio of 8,000 homes, with more than 5,000 in operation and 3,000 in development.
Ben Denton, chief executive of LGAH, said: “I am delighted to welcome Catherine to the team as we build out our strategy of forging impactful partnerships that allow us to deliver much-needed affordable housing at scale.
“Her experience will be an asset to us as we continue to expand on our acquisition and retrofitting capabilities to achieve our long-term ambitions in helping to solve the housing crisis faced by communities across the UK.”
Over the summer, Legal & General launched an affordable housing fund with a total size of £280m as of 5 August, including commitments from the Greater Manchester Pension Fund and Access Pool, a group of 11 local authority pension schemes.
The fund will initially finance projects totalling 750 new affordable homes in areas from West Sussex to Cornwall, where they will be let at 30% to 50% of market rent or sold under shared ownership.
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