Housing association Optivo has signed a £106.5m deal with affordable housing specialist Sage Housing to unlock funding for new affordable homes.
Through the partnership, Sage Housing will purchase 420 new homes from Optivo’s development pipeline, and 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 south-east England.
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.
Commenting on the deal, 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.
Optivo is one of the UK’s largest housing associations with over 45,000 homes in London, south-east England, and the Midlands.
Sage Housing is a registered provider of affordable housing and is the UK’s largest provider of newly built affordable housing.
Image: Mark Sater, chief executive, Sage Housing; and Paul Hackett, chief executive, Optivo
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