Blackstone sells 3,000-home portfolio to USS

Universities Superannuation Scheme has bought a 3,000-home portfolio of properties from Blackstone-backed Sage Homes for £405m. The properties are based across 250 sites around the UK. The deal is the largest of its type in shared ownership since the scheme was launched in 1990. Sage is owned by Blackstone and Regis Group. The assets bought will seed a new business for USS, Sparrow Shared Ownership, a registered provider of social housing backed by USS. The new business is chaired by former Clarion Housing boss David Avery. Avery said: “The launch of Sparrow Shared Ownership is an exciting moment for the UK’s shared ownership sector. Thanks to this significant investment of patient, long-term capital from the UK’s largest private pension fund, Sparrow Shared Ownership starts life with more than 3,000 high-quality shared ownership homes that are helping thousands of people across the country onto the housing ladder.” James Seppala, head of real estate Europe at Blackstone, said: “Through Sage Homes, which was established in 2017, Blackstone has been the largest provider of newly built affordable housing in the country for the past three years. “By deploying capital to fund the development of new homes, we are proud to have created an institutional-grade portfolio which has, in turn, attracted more long-term institutional capital into the sector.” He added: “This transaction will allow us to continue to invest capital into Sage Homes to help alleviate the structural undersupply of housing across the UK.” Chair of Sage Homes, Alison Thain, said the sale of the portfolio was an endorsement of Sage’s strategy. “Several years ago, we started on a journey to attract increasing amounts of institutional investment and capital into the sector,” she said. “For the past three years Sage has been the largest provider of new affordable homes in England and this investment proves our model, enabling continued growth and delivery of the homes that the country needs.” The sale in the UK comes as Blackstone announces a $964m (£754bn) deal to sell 11 residential properties in the US to Equity Residential. The properties in Atlanta, Dallas and Denver comprise 3,572 rental homes. Asim Hamid, senior managing director at Blackstone Real Estate, said the deal represented an “excellent outcome” for investors and demonstrated the high demand for quality assets. “Rental housing remains one of our highest conviction themes and we continue to see strong fundamentals in attractive markets,” said Hamid. Barclays and Deutsche Bank advised Blackstone, Regis and Sage on the UK sale; Eastdil Secured advised in the US. Evercore and Five Sigma Finance acted for USS. Photo © Taidgh Barron/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock