London CIV commitment to affordable housing totals £150m in 2023

6 December 2023

London CIV has made a £50m commitment into Octopus Affordable Housing Fund (“Octopus AHF”). This latest move sees a total commitment of £150m in UK affordable housing by the LCIV UK Housing Fund in 2023 – following a £100m commitment into CBRE UK Affordable Housing Fund (“CBRE UK AHF”) in May.

This was the first close of Octopus AHF, which was led by London CIV after a robust due diligence process.

The initial capital invested by London CIV and other first closers in Octopus AHF is expected to help enable more than 500 affordable family and older persons homes to be built in areas across the UK and is the first step towards Octopus AHF’s overall target of funding the delivery of 5,000 homes over the next few years.

The LCIV UK Housing Fund was launched by London CIV in March 2023 to enable its 32 partner funds (all London boroughs and the City of London) to invest in the attractive characteristics underpinned by affordable housing, including income that typically tracks inflation, high occupancy, low void rates, and low correlation compared to other real estate sectors.

This latest investment in affordable housing is the second in six months for London CIV. In May the investment pool’s LCIV UK Housing Fund committed £100m into CBRE UK AHF, which aims to deliver affordable and sustainable housing in areas of need, for those unable to afford to rent or buy in the open market.

Dean Bowden, CEO at London CIV, said: “Following extensive due diligence and negotiations on behalf of our partners funds, we are excited for LCIV UK Housing Fund to partner with Octopus Investments and be an anchor investor in Octopus AHF.

“Private capital has a vital role to play in the affordable housing sector, and we are confident that Octopus AHF will deliver robust long term returns for our partner funds, and through its impact framework accelerate the delivery of much needed new and quality affordable homes.”

Christopher Osborne, Senior Portfolio Manager at London CIV added: “We are delighted to have committed capital into Octopus AHF; this represents a compelling opportunity to partner with a “best in class” manager (Octopus) in the affordable housing space, under the stewardship of Ed Clough and Jack Burnham.

“We look forward to Octopus AHF driving resilient returns for our underlying Partner Funds and generating impact through increasing the supply of genuinely affordable and quality homes for some of the most vulnerable members of society.”

Source: London CIV