Funding Affordable Homes appoints Cording Real Estate Group as property adviser
Funding Affordable Homes (FAH), a social impact company which invests in UK affordable housing, has appointed Cording Real Estate Group, a member of the Edmond de Rothschild Real Estate Investment Management platform, as its property adviser.
FAH is currently a Luxembourg-based, SICAV SIF fund. Prior to the appointment of Cording, FAH had operated with an internal property adviser and five people from this team, led by CEO Paul Munday, have transferred to Cording. The alternative investment fund manager (AIFM) will continue to be Fuchs Asset Management. James Whidborne, who joined Cording in May, will work alongside Paul and his team as head of UK residential fund management.
FAH aims to promote the delivery of new affordable housing, while providing investors with long and secure income streams and capital appreciation. It has already acquired, or committed to acquire, around £170 million of socially-beneficial housing projects in London and the regions. It typically provides forward funding to enable new properties to be built and managed by established Registered Providers of housing, but it also owns and utilises its own housing association, Funding Affordable Homes Housing Association (FAHHA).
Current investors include Big Society Capital, which improves the lives of people in the UK by connecting social investment to social enterprises and charities to create a greater social impact, and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, an independent Foundation, working to inspire social change through research, policy and practice.
Jaume Sabater, chairman of the board of FAH, said: “The board has appointed Cording based on its experience and expertise in the UK residential sector and its deep pool of resources. We are looking forward to broadening the investor base and growing the fund and we are confident that Cording will help us ensure that our social and economic objectives are fully met”.
John Partridge, chairman of Cording, said: “We are delighted to have been appointed as property adviser to FAH and we welcome Paul Munday and his team to Cording. Sitting alongside our UK PRS team, many of whom also have long experience of affordable housing, we are looking forward to playing our part in delivering housing for people on low incomes and those who face particular challenges in finding suitable accommodation. We expect significant investor interest in the fund due to both its social impact objectives and the long and secure income streams that this strategy offers”.