Housing association Optivo has signed a landmark £106.5m deal with Sage Housing, the UK’s largest provider of newly built affordable housing, to unlock vital funds for new affordable homes.
Through the partnership, Sage Housing will purchase 420 new homes from Optivo’s development pipeline. Optivo will manage the homes and receive funds to invest in building additional affordable homes.
Sage Housing is a registered provider and as such, all of the homes will remain in the regulated social housing sector.
The homes, a mixture of rented and shared ownership properties, are spread across six sites in London and the South East.
The partnership is the first of its kind to involve grant-funded new homes. The deal has been approved by Homes England and City Hall, London.
Paul Hackett CBE, Chief Executive of Optivo, said: “Our innovative partnership with Sage brings significant additional funding into the social housing sector.
“By combining Optivo’s housing management expertise and Sage’s investment capacity, we can provide more high-quality affordable homes for people in housing need. We’ll be re-investing the proceeds in high quality, land-led affordable housing schemes.
“At a time when housing associations are facing major financial pressures, partnerships like this allow us to keep delivering on our mission of building much needed affordable homes.”
Mark Sater, Chief Executive of Sage Housing, said: “We are delighted to be working with Optivo on this landmark deal. At Sage our mission is to drive forward the delivery of high-quality affordable homes to those most in need. Partnering with likeminded organisations such as Optivo will help us achieve this.”
Source: Show House News
