Octopus Capital has raised a further £118m for its affordable housing fund.
Strathclyde Pension Fund has committed £50m, £58m is a re-up from London CIV – the investment pool for London’s LGPS community – and £10m is a re-up from Avon LGPS, taking the fund’s total funds under management to more than £360m.
The new investment will help to fund the team’s active pipeline and scale its impact-driven strategy. The fund remains open to new commitments as it scales towards its £1bn target by 2026.
Jack Burnham, head of affordable housing at Octopus Capital, said: “We’re delighted to have Strathclyde on board and to be continuing our relationship with Avon and London CIV. It’s great to see this level of interest in affordable housing from LGPS and also from the government more broadly. The announcement of a £39bn commitment to the sector over the next decade in their recent spending review is a hugely positive move.
“It supports the scale-up of affordable housing delivery across the UK – and aligns closely with the priorities of the long-term institutional investors we work with. This commitment gives us the tools and certainty to go further and faster, in partnership with local authorities, housing associations and developers.”
Christopher Osborne, head of real estate at London CIV, added: “London CIV is delighted to have committed a further £58m of capital into the Octopus affordable housing fund, taking its total commitment to £108m. Octopus is on course to deliver the target net returns for our underlying London LGPS partner funds and remains focused on increasing the supply of good quality and energy efficient affordable homes across the UK.
“Under the stewardship of Jack Burnham, the team has been bolstered through the recruitment of experienced housing practitioners and investment professionals. We look forward to the fund continuing to drive both returns and the supply of genuinely affordable and quality homes for some of the most vulnerable members of society.”
