Thriving Investments has created a new affordable housing fund management platform with Gresham House.
The partnership will manage Gresham House Residential Secure Income LP, a UK shared ownership strategy, which will be renamed to reflect the partnership.
Thriving Investments and Gresham House said the new partnership “creates a shared ownership platform of scale, with the combined resources and complementary skills of both companies enabling the best possible outcomes for investors and residents, whilst providing a strong pipeline for growth”.
Ben Fry, who was fund manager for ReSI LP and Residential Secure Income at Gresham House, has been appointed to the newly created role of affordable housing fund director at Thriving Investments.
Fry will continue to advise ReSI LP and Residential Secure Income, while supporting Thriving Investments’ broader expansion ambitions in the shared ownership and affordable rent sectors. He will also become the managing director of the two registered providers of social housing within these funds – ReSI Homes and ReSI Housing.
The partnership will see seven employees from Gresham House join Thriving Investments ensuring continuity for stakeholders, while Thriving Investments CEO Cath Webster, finance director John Tatham, and fund manager Jamie Younger, will join an expanded investment advisory committee.
Webster said: “UK government targets have been set to solve this country’s housing problem. It will take innovation, new approaches and partnerships to get this country building to the scale required. 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 LGPS relationships in particular, with Thriving Investments’ core activity of fund deployment and consistent delivery of market outperformance and strong social impact.
“The partnership will enable us to accelerate our ambitions in the shared ownership and affordable rental housing sectors, which are increasingly attractive to investors for their combination of stable income streams blended with capital growth, as part of our commitment to delivering high-quality, socially conscious communities. It also takes us past £1bn of assets under advisory, which, following PfP’s acquisition of for-profit registered provider Rosewood in March, is the latest step on our journey to become one of the UK’s leading providers of housing solutions across both rental and sale tenures and at attainable prices.
“Ben’s residential real estate experience, in both the private and listed markets, and across the capital stack, is almost unparalleled. Alongside ensuring continuity for the fund, we look forward to leveraging his and the team’s enviable track record in, and deep relationships across, the UK housing and local government sectors.”
Anthony Dalwood, chief executive officer at Gresham House, added: “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. The scale of the UK’s housing challenge clearly cannot be met by the public sector alone, and long-term, patient private capital can make a tangible difference to the overall supply of UK housing while providing social and environment benefits to residents, the local community and wider economy.”
Fry said: “Delivering meaningful social impact investment opportunities for investors in the housing sector has underpinned much of my career and fully aligns with Thriving Investments’ strategy. I look forward to leveraging my experience at Gresham House and that of the Thriving Investments team to accelerate the fund’s growth, whilst delivering value for clients within what is arguably the sector’s only vertically integrated, social impact fund management platform.”
