Savills Investment Management’s (Savills IM) Simply Affordable Homes fund has completed its first acquisition of 100 homes from Park Properties Housing Association (PPHA).

The purchase is one of a series of planned completions on a diversified portfolio of over 200 affordable rented and shared ownership homes through a partnership with HSPG-backed PPHA. The properties, located across the South of England, East of England and the Midlands, are spread across 11 sites and provide the Fund with a good geographic base for future acquisitions.

The portfolio features a mix of already-tenanted homes and homes that will be completed in 2024 and 2025 on a forward commit basis, enabling more people to access high-quality homes and services, with the associated positive impacts that both can have on people’s lives. The homes are built to Energy Performance Certificate B standards, helping customers to manage energy costs.

Savills IM announced the first close of the Fund in April this year. It will purchase and manage affordable, social rent and shared ownership homes through its for-profit registered provider, Simply Affordable Homes, after it bought a majority share in the provider from Centrus Financial in 2022.

The £123m capital was put forward by the fund’s five founding investors: Samsung Life Insurance, London CIV, Big Society Capital, Schroder BSC Social Impact Trust and Savills.

Simply Affordable will buy “existing high-quality, income-producing stock” through establishing strategic partnerships with housing associations and other registered providers.

Dominic Curtis, fund manager commented: “This first acquisition with PPHA is a significant achievement for the Fund and underscores its strategic objective of addressing the UK’s housing challenges by delivering sustainable, affordable housing utilising the Fund’s high-quality Registered Provider.”

Keith Exford, chairman of Simply Affordable Homes RP, added: “Simply Affordable Homes has been set-up to help address the housing crisis by attracting long-term private investment capital into the provision of more affordable homes for those in need. Today marks a landmark in our evolution where we start to provide a positive impact to our customers in the provision of high-quality homes and services.”