ao link

PfP partners with Octopus to launch £200m retirement housing business

Places for People (PfP) and investor Octopus Healthcare have launched a £200m retirement housing business.

Linked InXFacebookeCard

Liberty Retirement Living, a joint venture company that sits within the PfP group, plans to deliver 25 retirement villages and 2,700 homes in the next five years for people over 55 years of age.

Octopus has provided finance totalling £180m and PfP is leading on the delivery and development of the new retirement homes. PfP - which has been working on the investment for two years - has also committed £20m and said there could be further financing in the future.

Hear from PfP Capital at the Social Housing Finance Conference in May

So far Liberty has begun construction or has planning permission for six retirement villages and plans to deliver seven villages in its first year, comprising of 700 homes.

The villages range from a 73-home scheme in Dorset up to an 82-property development 10 miles south of Aberdeen, in north-east Scotland. Other villages are in Southampton, Chester, Buckingham and Stow-on-the-Wold. Liberty Retirement Living Holdings is the parent company and each asset sits in an SPV. The entity was incorporated in 2014, with an allotment of shares on 9 February 2017 worth £98,000.

It marks the second launch of a new company by PfP in two months. Its fund management business - PfP Capital - formally launched in March 2017 with a private rented sector fund. Its leadership team told Social Housing last month that it may launch other funds to match PfP’s other activities, including for retirement housing.

The Places for People Group, which is now comprised of 20 different companies, manages or owns more than 180,000 homes and 115 leisure facilities.

Octopus Healthcare currently manages more than £1bn of healthcare assets including GP surgeries, care homes, private hospitals, specialist schools and retirement villages. It is part of Octopus Investments, which manages £6bn on behalf of more than 50,000 investors. It operates in tax-efficient investment, smaller company financing, renewable energy and healthcare.

Liberty is led by Jane Barker, managing director, who was previously group director at MHA (Methodist Homes), delivering housing, care and support services to 12,000 older people. The board includes PfP chief executive David Cowans and chair Chris Phillips, along with Shay Ramalingam and Jose de Pablo, from Octopus.

The group pointed out that the UK’s population is ageing fast, with more people in now aged 60 and above than there are under 18, but that an estimated two per cent of the UK’s housing stock for retirement housing means there is a ‘chronic undersupply in purpose-built retirement homes’.

The retirement villages will be based around community hubs such as restaurants, coffee shops, gyms and beauty salons to create a ‘village feel’. Smart technology will offer temperature control, energy monitoring and video communication facilities.

So far Liberty has begun construction/has planning permission for six retirement villages and plans to deliver seven villages in its first year comprising of 700 homes.

Ms Barker said: ‘The over-55s are a huge group made up of different generations with different expectations and aims and many of them don’t consider themselves ‘old’.

‘With Liberty, we want to create both the building and service offering aimed at a younger market, including offering contemporary homes that are easy to look after. Most importantly however, the properties will feel like home - with a more personal environment and a selection of more targeted facilities and services.

‘That’s why we have huge aspirations for growth to match the growing need for properties of this type.’

Mr Ramalingam said: ‘We’re currently invested in more than 200 healthcare facilities across the UK and we see retirement villages as probably the largest growth property sector in this country. Not only are we living for longer, but our quality of life as we age is improving, meaning we want more from the places we live.

‘As a business we’re passionate about creating partnerships that bring new and innovative solutions to British consumers, which is why we’re excited about investing in Liberty alongside Places for People as one of the country’s most respected property managers and developers.’

Mr Cowans said: ‘We know that in order to meet the needs of our growing older generation, we need to change the way we plan our cities, towns and villages, including paving the way for new retirement villages.

‘Developing retirement properties to meet the changing needs of older people is key to realising our ambitions of catering for people at all stages of their life, and making a positive contribution to the wider housing market as well as local communities.’

The investor teamed up with QSH, which provide financial solutions to deliver affordable homes with little or no government subsidy, in a joint venture in 2015, but that jv was wound down in February 2017.

Hear about PfP’s fund management business at the Social Housing Finance Conference on 11 May. Click here for full details.


Read more

Britain's biggest pension fund teams with PPP specialist in £100m supported housing jvBritain's biggest pension fund teams with PPP specialist in £100m supported housing jv
Croydon council eyes investors for its development companyCroydon council eyes investors for its development company
Interview: drivers behind Derwent joining Places for PeopleInterview: drivers behind Derwent joining Places for People
Investor body warns over inadvertent ‘insider’ updatesInvestor body warns over inadvertent ‘insider’ updates
L&Q consolidates supported housing into 6,600-home businessL&Q consolidates supported housing into 6,600-home business

Linked InXFacebookeCard
Add New Comment
You must be logged in to comment.