HSPG founders part ways

After 11 years of trading, Guy Horne and David Searle have split the housing business into two independent firms, Sevet and Highdale.

Horne will run Sevet, a joint venture with US investment firm Sixth Street that will work in partnership with Homes England to provide homes for vulnerable people. The business intends to unlock more than £1bn of investment in affordable housing, it said.

The units would be provided through Archie Homes, a for-profit registered provider previously known as Park Properties Housing Association. The company has received almost £150m from Homes England to support the delivery of 1,500 affordable homes across England and is one of only three for-profit RPs named as strategic partners by Homes England.

Searle will run Highdale, a developer and investor with 3,000 units under management that is “focused on value-add investment and asset management”, according to a company statement.

The demerger of HSPG will enable each founder “to focus on their individual areas of expertise and pursue their own strategies and ambitions for the future”, the company said.

Guy Horne, chief executive of Sevet, said: “David and I have spent more than a decade building HSPG together, and I am immensely proud of everything we have achieved, particularly the impact we have made on the lives of thousands of people and families. I am deeply grateful for our partnership and for the extraordinary team that has helped us get here.

“The Sevet team and I are energised by what lies ahead. This next chapter gives us the opportunity to bring even greater focus to our mission and accelerate the delivery of affordable housing across the UK. Through Archie Homes and our continued partnership with Sixth Street, we have the capital, experience, and strong pipeline of opportunities in place to help thousands more people access safe, secure and affordable homes in the parts of the country where they are needed most.”

David Searle, founder of Highdale, added: “I am enormously proud of the business and team Guy and I have built together. Our complementary strengths have always been central to HSPG’s success, and creating two independent businesses gives us the freedom to apply those strengths with greater focus.

“Highdale begins this new chapter with the advantage of an experienced team, established platforms and a well-capitalised business. We are focused on building on what has already been achieved with a new pipeline of exciting opportunities ahead of us.”

Founded in Manchester, HSPG claims to have housed 13,000 people over the last decade and “deployed more than £1bn into social and affordable housing”.

HSPG’s latest financial results, for the year ended March 2025, showed that the company had negative equity of £10m.

HSPG was set up in 2014 as an affordable housing provider. It bought and developed homes and rented them to local councils long-term to provide supported and affordable housing at a rent covered by the local housing allowance.

HSPG’s 50 staff have been redeployed to either Sevet or Highdale.