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Landlord-owned investment firm and asset manager team up to build £1bn shared ownership fund
An investment company owned by Places for People (PfP) has partnered with an asset manager to launch an expanded shared ownership fund, with a goal of building a £1bn portfolio in five years.
Thriving Investments, which is owned by the large housing association, has teamed up with Gresham House to create a shared ownership “platform of scale”.
The two organisations will combine resources to manage an existing fund, Gresham House Residential Secure Income LP (RESI LP), which will be renamed to reflect the partnership. The fund’s investment team will be expanded to 24 people.
Ben Fry, who was the RESI LP fund manager at Gresham House, will transfer to Thriving Investments to become its affordable housing fund director, a new role.
In this position, Mr Fry will continue to advise RESI LP while supporting Thriving Investments’ “broader expansion ambitions” in the shared ownership and affordable rent sectors.
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He will also continue to serve in his role as lead fund manager for Residential Secure Income PLC under a secondment agreement for an initial term of nine months.
To date, the RESI LP fund has deployed nearly £200m and amassed a portfolio of 1,557 affordable homes across England, of which over 1,100 are operational.
It currently has £120m of capital to deploy and is actively fundraising, with a target to build a £1bn shared ownership portfolio over the next five years, while expanding the delivery of its customer and environmental charters to drive customer service across the shared ownership sector.
Under the partnership, seven employees from Gresham House will join Thriving Investments. Cath Webster, chief executive of Thriving Investments, John Tatham, its finance director, and fund manager Jamie Younger will join an expanded investment advisory committee.
Gresham House will continue to provide all Financial Conduct Authority regulatory functions, oversight, finance and reporting, client servicing and fundraising functions for the fund. Thriving Investments will be responsible for managing the portfolio and sourcing and executing new acquisitions, using its “streamlined” investment process and access to PfP’s “significant pipeline”.
There are no proposed changes to the existing for-profit registered provider, ReSI Homes, or the membership of its board.
Thriving Investments said the partnership would provide “the best possible outcomes for investors and residents” and a “strong pipeline of growth”.
Ms Webster said: “This transformative partnership not only highlights the role private investment can bring into the sector, but delivers immediate opportunities to scale across the property, asset management and regulatory markets.
“It combines Gresham House’s proven capital raising capabilities, and deep [Local Government Pension Scheme] relationships in particular, with Thriving Investments’ core activity of fund deployment and consistent delivery of market outperformance and strong social impact.”
She added that the partnership took Thriving Investments past £1bn of assets under advisory, which, following PfP’s acquisition of for-profit registered provider Rosewood in March, was “the latest step on our journey to become one of the UK’s leading providers of housing solutions across both rental and sale tenures”.
Anthony Dalwood, chief executive of Gresham House, said: “This significant partnership will create a best-in-class shared ownership platform for investors and unlock opportunities for continued investment and growth.
“Combining our expertise will accelerate essential investment in affordable, high-quality, energy-efficient housing to support the government’s commitment to tackling the UK’s housing crisis.
“Combining a Greater London Authority strategic partner in Gresham House and a Homes England strategy partner in Places for People provides the best possible opportunity set to deliver deployment in the fund.”
Mr Fry said: “I look forward to leveraging my experience at Gresham House and that of the Thriving Investments team to accelerate the fund’s growth, while delivering value for clients within what is arguably the sector’s only vertically integrated social impact fund management platform.”
The news came after Gresham House said it would sell off RESI Housing, a separate for-profit entity, as part of a wind-down last month.
RESI Housing is chaired by David Orr, who is also chair of Clarion housing association. As of September last year, it owned 766 shared ownership homes with a gross value of £123m, according to the firm’s last filed accounts at Companies House.
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