Savills IM's Simply Affordable Homes fund adds further 105 homes to portfolio
May 2025
London, 14th May 2025, Savills Investment Management’s (“Savills IM”) Simply Affordable Homes fund ("the Fund") has announced its third acquisition, purchasing a portfolio of 105 homes in Oxfordshire from Blenheim Estates, constructed by Pye Homes. The acquisition was made through its for-profit Registered Provider, Simply Affordable Homes RP Limited.
The operational homes are a mixture of intermediate market rent and shared ownership tenures and form part of a wider housing development in the area, reflecting the Fund’s preference for high quality income-producing portfolios with a range of affordable housing options. All of the homes have an EPC B rating.
It is the Fund’s second transaction of 2025, following the recent acquisition of 94 income-producing homes in another major development in Oxfordshire, Heyford Park – an award-winning regeneration project that will deliver over 6,000 homes, 50,000 sqm of commercial space, a new railway station, school and other key infrastructure.
Simply Affordable Homes RP Limited now manages 367 affordable rent, intermediate rent and shared-ownership homes, with assets in the South of England, East of England and the Midlands providing it with diverse exposure by geography and affordable housing type. The Fund was launched in April last year, with equity commitments from institutional investors including the LGPS Investment pool London CIV, Better Society Capital, Schroder BSC Social Impact Trust plc, and Savills Plc.
UK affordable housing forms part of Savills IM’s conviction in the Living sector, which also includes investments - through funds or separately managed accounts - in single-family housing, multi-family build-to-rent, purpose-built student accommodation, and senior living across the UK, Europe and Japan. It manages a total of €2.9bn and c.9,000 units across these strategies.
Savills IM now manages €26.2bn of assets in the Living, Industrial & Logistics, Debt, Natural Capital, Office and Retail sectors across the UK, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Dominic Curtis, Fund Manager for the Simply Affordable Homes Fund, Savills IM, commented:
"This acquisition is an excellent addition to the Fund. The portfolio is of very high quality and delivers a significant social impact to our residents, with average rent levels close to 60% of market rent. This latest transaction further demonstrates our ability to source high quality assets with leading ESG credentials and it provides investors with immediate and defensive income in a sector where the role of institutional capital is increasingly important to bringing much needed new product to market.”
Keith Exford, Chairman of Simply Affordable Homes RP, commented:
“Our third acquisition for Simply Affordable Homes exemplifies our commitment to the provision of high-quality and energy-efficient housing that is both affordable and readily available for local communities experiencing undersupply. By funding the delivery of these homes, we are bringing immediate additionality to market while responding to strong institutional demand for access to the sector.”
The Simply Affordable Homes Fund operates under enhanced governance frameworks and has a 'Theory of Change' impact framework designed in conjunction with The Good Economy, focussed on social impact but including also a series of forward commitments for reducing carbon emissions over time. The fund adopted the Sustainability Impact Label under UK SDR in February of this year.
CONTACT US
Josh Carson
Montfort Communications
+44 (0) 7736 233 039
savillsim@montfort.london
Simply Affordable Homes Fund has announced its third acquisition, purchasing a portfolio of 105 homes in Oxfordshire from Blenheim Estates, constructed by Pye Homes.