Money will fund new affordable homes in North West
Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) has invested £100m into a Legal & General investment fund for affordable homes in the North West.
The new regional vehicle is a structured extension to the insurance giant’s flagship Affordable Housing Fund, which was launched in July 2024 to deliver affordable housing nationally.
According to government figures, there are 207,000 people on local authority waiting lists in the North West.
GMPF is the 11th biggest defined benefit pension fund in the UK looking after more than £375,000 in pensions for employees of ten local authorities in Greater Manchester and other public sector bodies in the area.
New homes delivered as a result of the investment will be developed and operated by L&G Affordable Homes (LGAH), which has more than 8,000 homes in operation or development.
Eleanor Wills, chair of GMPF, said: ”We are acutely aware of the severe housing crisis both nationally and in the North-West region.
“With record numbers of homeless children placed in temporary accommodation, the ever-growing waiting lists for social housing, and the younger generation being priced out of home ownership.
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“This is why we are proud to continue our longstanding partnership with Legal & General to launch a specific vehicle for Northern LGPS that supports the Government’s plan to provide much-needed affordable homes for hardworking families while ensuring strong, low-risk returns to secure the pensions of our members.”
L&G fund manager Ali Farrella added: “This fund is the culmination of a long partnership with GMPF and reflects L&G’s commitment to delivering more affordable housing where it is most needed.
“This is a great example of partnership working between the public and private sectors to increase investment into the affordable housing sector, and increase the choice, quality and availability of affordable housing across North West England.
In its latest accounts, published last summer, LGAH said its pre-tax profit for 2023 would be £1.3m, after accounting for £35.7m in unspecified revaluation costs.
Despite the £35.7m hit, the pre-tax profit figure of £1.3m, was up on the £808,000 posted for the previous year.
It delivered its highest number of new homes to date, completing 1,304 new homes in the year-end 31 December 2023.
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