Lambeth first Local Authority to invest in LCIV UK Housing Fund

London CIV is pleased to report that it has received the first Pensions Committee approval from a Client Fund to invest into the London CIV UK Housing Fund (“the Housing Fund”). The Housing Fund has an open-ended structure and will focus on increasing the supply of good quality, affordable housing in the UK. This will include the following categories of housing: General Needs Social & Affordable Housing, Specialist Housing, and Transitional Supported Housing. Over £250m of Client Fund demand has been identified with a first close scheduled for the end of March 2023. London CIV has also selected its first investment into an underlying housing fund which is expected to close in Q2 2023.

Cllr Adrian Garden, Chair of Pension Committee, London Borough of Lambeth said:

“Lambeth Pension Fund has for many years sought to invest in a fund that would increase the amount of social and affordable housing in the UK. With the setting up of the LCIV UK Housing Fund we are delighted that we are able to achieve that aim whilst meeting our fund’s wider objectives of diversification, impact, and securing long-term income.”

Christopher Osborne, Senior Portfolio Manager at London CIV said:

“We too are delighted to have received our first Client Fund approval from the London Borough of Lambeth to invest into the LCIV UK Housing Fund. We consider this product will offer our Client Funds diversification from other property markets and generate resilient income that is often supported by the government and typically tracks inflation. Our focus will be on meeting our underlying Client Fund return requirements and addressing the structural supply/demand imbalance in the housing sector that is being compounded by the current cost of living crisis. In addition, a large component of our investment due diligence process is assessing underlying housing managers effectiveness to generate, measure, and report impact. We look forward to receiving further commitments from other Client Funds over the next few months and thereafter.”

Photo shows Cllr Adrian Garden of LB Lambeth (centre) with London CIV's Jason Fletcher, CIO and Christopher Osborne, Senior Portfolio Manager.