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Homes England has invested £50m in a real estate fund aimed at addressing the UK’s housing crisis.
Schroders Capital’s office in London (picture: Google Street View)
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Schroders Capital said the investment from the government’s housing and regeneration agency will help its real estate impact fund to grow and draw capital from pension funds and insurers.
The fund is focused on making investments that alleviate the shortage of social and affordable housing and help regenerate town centres.
Schroders said it “aims to ensure that its investments are made in accessible and resilient locations, with access to green space, public transport, schools and GPs”.
The investment was part of a package of pledges announced at the government’s International Investment Summit, held this week in London.
The National Wealth Fund, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group also announced plans to release £1bn of funding to accelerate social housing retrofit in the UK at the summit.
Peter Denton, chief executive of Homes England, said: “This is a brilliant example of how public and private sector organisations can get behind a clear and common aim – namely supporting social justice and thriving communities.
“Our commitment aims to help spark deep and diverse market investment from a range of institutions.”
Chris Santer, Schroders impact fund manager on the real estate team, said: “This investment by Homes England is a clear indication of the absolutely vital role this fund is looking to play in the UK by delivering real and tangible change.
“We believe this allocation from the public sector will be catalytic in unlocking further institutional investments, boosting broader confidence and interest in this key sector meaning the fund can enable more communities to thrive across the UK.”
Schroders added that the real estate fund had received approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last month to use the ‘sustainability impact’ label.
The FCA has cracked down on so-called greenwashing products that overstate their ESG credentials and brought in a new set of labels that describe different sustainability goals.
Sustainability impact means products must directly achieve a positive impact and show methods of measuring outcomes.
In August, Schroders announced it had been given a £400m investment mandate by the Wales Pension Partnership, with part of the funding going to affordable housing in the nation.
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