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Investor puts £100m into new funding company

A new funding company for the social housing sector has formed with £100m of funding from a major investor, in a return to the sector.

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Investor puts £100m into new funding company

New company 3H York is thought to have been backed by asset management company PGIM on behalf of the Co-op’s pension fund, Pace.

3H York aims to invest the money in the next six months and is now seeking out opportunities that will address the funding needs of various affordable housing bodies.

The news comes just over two months after the Co-op Bank secured a £700m rescue package and separated its pension fund from the banking arm of the group. This move would be a dramatic return to the sector for Co-op, which launched a phased exit from social housing in 2014.

Its first three team members, whose surnames form the basis for the ‘3H’ name, are Paul Hardisty, who will leave his job at affordable housing investment company QSH, Kevin Hancock from the same company and Mo Harkin, who piloted the first affordable housing private investment deal as director of housing at Luton Borough Council.

Mr Hardisty said: “The key objective for the business is to provide ethically based investment, tailored to the specific affordable housing needs of various bodies and individuals in any given area. We already have a number of significant projects in the pipeline and will shortly be able to disclose details of these.”


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3H York will aim to provide funding in various circumstances, including to councils wishing to escape the constraints of the government’s cap on the amount they can borrow against their Housing Revenue Accounts.

Inside Housing understands that 3H York will look to provide funding to councils worried about how they will afford the fire safety works that have proven necessary in light of the June fire at Grenfell Tower. Councils have repeatedly attacked the government over a failure to provide funding for repair work such as the removal of flammable cladding.

Other uses to which 3H York will look to put its money include: councils that wish to reinvest Right to Buy capital receipts into new housing; associations or councils looking for extra income from the private rental sector; or low-cost homeownership through rent to buy.

QSH will continue to operate as a separate business.

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