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For-profit secures £100m joint venture backing from major US investor for extra-care housing
A for-profit registered provider is scaling up its provision of extra-care affordable housing after securing more than £100m from one of the world’s largest investment managers.
Preferred Homes has received the joint venture funding from Chicago-based investment manager Nuveen, which is wholly owned by the US teachers pension fund manager, the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA).
Funding will support eight schemes of 100% affordable rent extra-care housing for older people, which allows independent living with care support available.
Preferred Homes has eight schemes currently planned in its initial development pipeline, including sites in Leeds, Telford, Nottingham, Bicester and Shrewsbury, with two further projects to be announced in September.
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Findlay MacAlpine, chief executive of Preferred Homes, explained that the landlord’s ambition is to become a market leader in the sector and deliver 50 schemes over the next four to seven years.
“As the new chancellor seeks inexpensive ways of tackling society’s big problems, we must recognise the role institutional funding can play in fixing our care and housing crises,” he said.
“Working in partnership with national and local government – and backed by significant capital – we are moving quickly and want to create high quality, purpose-built new communities across England.”
All properties will be for affordable rent and include extra-care amenities. These will also be self-contained and in locations that offer access to local communities and services.
The homes will be let through nominations agreements with local authorities, with Preferred Homes retaining and managing them.
Homes England is also providing supporting funding to Preferred Homes.
The Leeds site, named Hunslet Moor House, is due to open in autumn this year and will offer 63 affordable extra-care apartments for rent.
“The economic orthodoxy for affordable homebuilding and provision of adult care is broken. Demographic trends are fuelling demand, but for at least a decade there has not been enough consistent public or private funding to boost supply,” Mr MacAlpine added.
“The reintroduction of housing targets and an ambition to speed up delivery present a big opportunity for disruptors like PHL to improve the quality and quantity of housing for older people who are in need.”
To be eligible for extra-care housing, residents need to be over 55, have the right to rent and be nominated by a local council or assessed through a referral process as being in need of housing.
Property investment firm Ashbourne Capital Partners registered Preferred Homes with the Regulator of Social Housing in 2020, alongside AAIM Housing and ReSI Homes.
Major global investor M&G also registered a for-profit shared ownership subsidiary, M&G UK Shared Ownership, in 2020.
Nuveen, which was acquired by TIAA in 2014 for £4.8bn, has around £1tn in assets under management.
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