Places for People acquire £300m regeneration fund and property portfolio

Places for People, an affordable homes group and former housing association, has purchased the igloo Regeneration Partnership Fund from igloo Regeneration and will also take over their joint venture holdings and property portfolio.

As part of the deal, Places for People will acquire a 50% of the Blueprint Regeneration Partnership, a UCIS between igloo Regeneration Partnership Fund and Nottingham City Council, as well as 50% of BIGG Regeneration, a partnership with Scottish Canals.

The property group’s alternative asset management arm PfP Capital will act as the investment manager with igloo Regeneration retaining its role as development manager.

Included in the deal is The Malings in Ouseburn and options on four other sites in Newcastle, Trent Basin in Nottingham, Maryhill Locks in Glasgow, the Ironworks in Leeds and Heartlands in Trevenson Park, Cornwall.

Chris Jones, a managing director at PfP Capital, said: ‘This is an exciting opportunity to partner with such an experienced team at igloo and further strengthen our position as a leading responsible real estate fund manager across a variety of housing tenures.

‘igloo shares our commitment to sustainable development and creating lasting, vibrant communities and we look forward to working with them, and the other partners, to deliver these exciting schemes.’

Peter Connolly, chief executive at igloo, said: ‘We have a strong pipeline of projects and now that the partnership with Places for People is in place, we can accelerate delivery and expand our operations.

‘We are now actively seeking further investment so that we can open up more opportunities for development that are for the good of people, place and planet.”

Andrew Appleyard, a senior director at Aviva Investors, who were managing the fund, said: ‘The fund has delivered some very successful sustainable regeneration projects over the past 17 years, with the fund life ending the disposal assets to Place for People is a good outcome as the legacy can continue.’

The United Nations described the fund as ‘the world’s first socially responsible property fund,’ and it has invested £300m across the UK, including eco-friendly homes and commercial space since its launch in 2001.