London LGPS investment in UK housing reaches £470m
London CIV, the LGPS investment pool for London Local Government Pension Schemes, has made a £100m investment commitment into Legal and General’s Affordable Housing Fund. This latest move has brought the London LGPS community's total allocated pooled investments in affordable housing (through the LCIV UK Housing Fund) to £470m - less than two years since the fund was launched (March 2023).
With this latest support from London CIV, Legal & General has raised £510m for its affordable housing investment strategy as part of the second close of its Affordable Housing Fund. Other new investors include social impact investor Better Society Capital, which also invests in other affordable housing funds alongside London CIV.
L&G’s Affordable Housing Fund is already seeded with a portfolio of 514 homes and is actively deploying capital that is expected to deliver over 1,000 homes (either operational or under construction) by Q2 2025. Going forward, the funds raised to date are expected to deliver approximately 3,500 to 4,000 homes.
Christopher Osborne, Head of Real Estate at London CIV, said: “Through our LCIV UK Housing Fund, London CIV’s strategy is to help increase the supply of good quality affordable housing in the UK, address an under-served part of the market, and deliver income driven returns to our Partner Funds.
“We’re delighted to have committed capital into L&G’s Affordable Housing Fund and to partner with another established manager and platform within the sector. We consider this strategy will meet our target returns and contribute to providing more affordable homes in the UK.”
This latest investment by the LCIV UK Housing Fund comes in quick succession of a combined £104m anchor commitment with the Church of England into Man Group’s "Man Community Housing Fund III LP (London CIV: £100m / Church of England: £4m).
The initial capital investment into Man Group’s Community Housing Fund is expected to help enable more than 350 energy efficient, affordable family homes to be built in areas of constrained affordability across the UK and is the first step towards an initial capital raise of £300m that aims to fund the delivery of 1,000 homes over the next few years.
Other investment commitments made by the LCIV UK Housing Fund, since it launched in March 2023, include:
Dean Bowden, CEO of London CIV, said: “In just under two years, the LCIV UK Housing Fund has enabled the London LGPS community to come together and invest more than £470m into combating the UK’s housing crisis. It’s a perfect example of how both a pooled investment strategy and public and private sector partnerships can help build more homes at scale and deliver meaningful impact.”
Editor notes:
About London CIV
London LGPS CIV Ltd (‘London CIV’) is the investment pooling vehicle for London-based Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS), which have combined assets of £50.8bn AUM (at March 2024). Authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority ('FCA'), the pool is owned by all 32 London boroughs and the City of London (also known as London CIV’s Partner Funds).
65% of London LGPS assets are pooled or under pooled management (c.£32.8bn), as at 31 October 2024. Within London CIV, there are 20 funds that invest in public markets and eight that invest in private markets, all of which have been designed with and are exclusively available to our Partner Funds.
Our purpose is to work together to deliver sustainable prosperity for the communities that count on us all.
About the LCIV UK Housing Fund
The LCIV UK Housing Fund was launched by London CIV in March 2023 to enable its 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.
For enquiries, contact:
Richard O’Donnell
richard.odonnell@londonciv.org.uk
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