PRS REIT completes sale of 5,478-home portfolio for £1.1bn
Northern LGPS and Local Pensions Partnership Investments have acquired the fund’s operating arm and plans to invest £1bn to grow the portfolio to 15,000 homes over the next decade.
The £1.1bn deal for PRS REIT’s operating arm means its entire portfolio of 5,478 single-family homes is now under the ownership of Northern LGPS and LPPI.
Northern LGPS is made up of the Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and West Yorkshire Local Government Pension Scheme funds, and LPPI manages assets on behalf of Lancashire County Pension Fund, the London Pensions Fund Authority, and Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund.
The homes are spread across 71 sites in England, Scotland, and Wales.
The pension funds want to grow the size of the portfolio by almost 10,000 homes over the next 10 years to address the UK’s “chronic undersupply of quality rental housing”, they said.
Cllr Eleanor Wills, chair of the Northern LGPS, said: “This partnership demonstrates what we can achieve when pension funds work together at scale.
“I am proud that Northern LGPS is supporting the government’s plan to provide much-needed affordable homes across the country for hardworking families, including right here in the North of England, while securing the pensions of our members.”
Louise Warden, investment director at Local Pensions Partnership Investments, added: “This joint venture, delivered through our LPPI Real Estate Fund, is a great example of the positive impact pension capital can have in the communities of pension fund members, and of the power of cross-pool collaboration. By working together with Northern, we’ve been able to unlock an investment opportunity of real scale.
“The undersupply of quality rental properties in the UK is well documented. We want to help tackle this issue while accessing an asset class that offers our members exactly what they need. Our plans to scale the portfolio significantly underline our confidence in this strategy and commitment to long-term investment in UK housing.”
