PGIM Real Estate (PGIM RE) and Cornwall Pension Fund are developing a single-family housing scheme that will let homes at affordable rents.
The acquisition was made through a co-investment between Cornwall Pension Fund and PGIM RE, which in December 2020 launched a UK affordable housing strategy.
Since its launch, the strategy has committed over £300 million to provide just over 1,650 homes, making PGIM RE one of the largest private owners of single-family rental housing in the UK, the firm said.
Some 67 units will be developed in Tuckingmill, Camborne, situated in Cornwall, a popular UK tourist destination but which is also “one of the most economically challenged regions in the country”, said Oscar Kingsbury, portfolio manager of the UK affordable housing strategy at the firm.
The investment is the first for the co-investment scheme, which aims to acquire, hold and manage affordably single-family rental housing in Cornwall.
The co-investment is one part of the Cornwall Local Impact portfolio, created for Cornwall Pension Fund by Brunel Pension Partnership, a local authority pension fund pool. The impact portfolio aims to channel local government pension scheme investments into affordable private rental housing and renewables in the county. PGIM RE said the development will incorporate energy-efficient technologies.
Kingsbury said: “There is significant demand for high-quality, energy-efficient housing, let at affordable rents. The aim of our co-investment with Cornwall Pension Fund is to help alleviate the shortage of affordable rental accommodation in the region. The investment in Camborne will deliver much-needed housing for working people and families whilst producing sustainable income for the co-investors.”
Saskia Secker, a senior portfolio analyst at Brunel Pension Partnership, said the 67 new homes in Camborne were a “great example of sustainable brownfield regeneration on a site that has been empty for years”.
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