Savills investment arm acquires affordable homes in Oxfordshire

The Heyford Park regeneration project includes a masterplan for 6,000 homes, 50,000 sq m of commercial space, a new railway station and school.

Savills IM, which manages €2.9bn of housing assets worldwide, launched its UK affordable housing fund in April last year.

The fund raised £123m, with equity commitments from institutional investors including Samsung Life Insurance, London CIV, Big Society Capital, Schroder BSC Social Impact Trust and Savills.

The fund invests in and manages affordable rent, social rent and shared ownership homes, purchasing them when built or on a forward-funding basis.

Savills IM acquired Simply Affordable Homes from Centrus Financial in 2022. The for-profit provider now owns a total of 235 homes.

Dominic Curtis, fund manager for the Simply Affordable Homes Fund at Savills IM, said: “This is another significant step in the fund’s central mission, which is to address the UK’s housing challenges by delivering sustainable, affordable housing through our high-quality registered provider.

“The industry recognises that public-private collaboration is essential if we are to address supply-demand imbalances that are acutely felt in the affordable market, and the role of institutional capital within this.

“The transaction gives us an immediate exposure to Oxfordshire, where our strong deal-sourcing network has delivered a high-quality portfolio in an attractive, growth-potential location.

“It allows us to provide our high-quality services to our customers from day one, further advancing our strategy of investing in properties that deliver both social impact and attractive returns for our investors.”

Keith Exford, chair of Simply Affordable Homes RP, said: “Simply Affordable Homes has been set up to help address the housing crisis by attracting long-term private investment capital into the provision of more affordable homes for those in need.

“Today marks another step in our evolution, where we expand our geographic coverage and provide a positive impact to more customers with the provision of high-quality homes and services.”

Savills IM also invests in single-family homes, multi-family build-to-rent schemes, purpose-built student accommodation and senior living, and has 9,000 units worldwide.