Funding Affordable Homes acquires 35 shared ownership homes in London's tallest residential tower
Funding Affordable Homes (FAH), a social impact company which invests in UK affordable housing, has acquired 35 shared ownership homes in London’s tallest residential tower from City Pride Ltd for £11 million.
The homes, which are a mix of studio, one and two-bed apartments, are located in the 75-storey Landmark Pinnacle development at 15 Westferry Road on the southern edge of Canary Wharf in London’s Docklands. They will be managed by Poplar HARCA, a local housing association, which has entered into a management agreement with Funding Affordable Homes Housing Association (FAHHA), the housing assocation owned by FAH, whose investment adviser is Edmond de Rothschild Real Estate Investment Management.
The acquisition by FAH follows that in March of the nearby Island Point development of 173 affordable homes also from City Pride Ltd for £28.5 million. The shared ownership and affordable homes formed part of the affordable housing obligation required as a condition of the planning permission for the development of Landmark Pinnacle. Both Landmark Pinnacle and Island Point were designed by Squire & Partners and developed by Chalegrove Properties, which was appointed by City Pride Ltd under a development management agreement.
Paul Munday, fund manager of FAH, said: “We are extremely pleased to complete our second deal with Chalegrove and Poplar HARCA and hope this is the start of a long-term relationship with both parties. The quality of the scheme is exemplary, as evidenced by the volume of sales interest, despite the challenging times we all face. This is further evidence of the sustained demand and need for good quality affordable housing across the UK. The projects at Landmark Pinnacle and Island Point represent our single largest investment to date and provide much needed subsidised rented and shared ownership housing in east London”.
James Whidborne, Head of Residential Fund Management UK at Edmond de Rothschild REIM, said: “FAH now has a seed portfolio of 11 assets, 10 of which are income producing, with the final asset due to complete in the middle of this year. Our seed portfolio, combined with the merits of the sector from both a social impact and returns perspective, should enable us to now grow the fund to in excess of £500 million within two years”.
FAH aims to promote the delivery of new affordable housing, while providing investors with long and secure income streams and capital appreciation. It has already acquired, or committed to acquire, around £170 million of socially beneficial housing projects in London, the east and south of England and other parts of the country. It typically provides forward funding to enable new properties to be built and managed by established Registered Providers of housing, but it also owns and utilises its own housing association, FAHHA.
Current investors include Big Society Capital, which improves the lives of people in the UK by connecting social investment to social enterprises and charities to create a greater social impact, and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, an independent Foundation, working to inspire social change through research, policy and practice.