Submitted by Administrator on Tue, 17/03/2015 - 14:48
The Investment Property Forum (IPF) commissioned CCHPR to investigate whether institutional investors could be attracted to expand the social housing sector in the UK. The final report was published in February 2015 on the IPF website.
Based on interviews with housing associations and institutional investors, the report examined what was driving the appetite for investment, what were the attractions to and requirements of investors from a financial and portfolio perspective, and what were the hurdles that prevented investors from entering the market. From the social housing providers’ side, the report investigated their appetite for new sources of finance. The overall findings showed that there was a significant interest in equity investment in the sector from institutional investors, but because of the current climate of low interest rates, social housing providers have a preference for debt financing. This mismatch of requirements and the barriers to importing often very different models from other markets suggested that there are significant hurdles to be overcome if social housing is to become a meaningful part of UK investors’ real estate portfolios. This report should therefore be a useful catalyst to the debate.
The report is made available to IPF members to download from the IPF website http://www.ipf.org.uk/"