Thriving teams up with Gresham for £1bn affordable housing platform

Thriving Investments has teamed up with fund manager Gresham House to create a new £1bn-plus affordable housing fund management platform. The partnership will manage Gresham House Residential Secure Income, a UK shared ownership strategy, which will be renamed to reflect the partnership. The pair said the partnership would create a “shared ownership platform of scale”, with some £200m already deployed and a portfolio of 1,557 affordable homes across England, of which more than 1,100 are operational. The fund currently has a further £120m of capital to deploy and is actively fundraising, with a target to build a £1bn-plus shared ownership portfolio over the next five years. Thriving Investments chief executive Cath 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.” She added: “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.” Anthony Dalwood, chief executive at Gresham House, said: “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. 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.” To lead the project, Ben Fry has been appointed to the newly created role of affordable housing fund director at Thriving Investments. Fry was fund manager at ReSI LP and Residential Secure Income and will continue to advise ReSI LP. As part of the deal, seven employees from Gresham House will join Thriving Investments, while Thriving Investments’ Webster, finance director John Tatham and fund manager Jamie Younger will join an expanded investment advisory committee. Gresham House will continue to provide all FCA regulatory functions, oversight, finance and reporting, client servicing and fundraising functions for the fund. Thriving Investments will be responsible for managing the portfolio and sourcing and executing new acquisitions. 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, while delivering value for clients within what is arguably the sector’s only vertically integrated, social impact fund management platform.” Photo © Loïc Thébaud