Places for People registers as fund manager

The landlord, which owns or manages 140,000 homes, is believed to be the first housing association to have taken the step, which is the culmination of a two-and-a-half-year process.

Acting as a fund manager requires registration with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which Places for People (PfP) says was signed off shortly before Christmas.

Places for People Financial Services is listed as an authorised body on the FCA’s website with permission to provide “regulated products and services”.

David Cowans, chief executive of PfP, revealed the association’s move to Inside Housing at MIPIM, the international property conference in France last week, where he was seeking interest from investors.

He said: “PfP has established an entity in the group that has registered with the Financial Conduct Authority to undertake fund management business. Consideration is being given to the establishment of funds across a range of tenures both in the private and affordable housing sectors.

“PfP has a range of management services and the objective of the fund management business is to combine these services in an end-to-end offer to its stakeholders and investors.”

Many housing associations have set up commercial vehicles to raise funds for investment which is then lent on to the rest of the group.

Acting as a fund manager would usually involve investors buying shares in a vehicle which the manager is then authorised to invest in projects to produce a return.

Sue Harvey, a partner at Campbell Tickell, said she believed the move by PfP would be a first by a housing association, but the advantages were not immediately clear.

PfP has become known as one of the most commercial and diverse housing associations in the sector, with a leisure centre arm and an energy company among its businesses.

In 2014/15, the group turned over £550m, producing a £30m profit, with 44% coming from social housing lettings.