Exclusive: Vistry seeks funding partner to scale up for-profit provider

“It shouldn’t be a better time for someone wanting to come and invest in delivering affordable homes in the UK,” Stephen Teagle, chief executive of partnerships and regeneration at Vistry Group, told Inside Housing.

“If you’re a pension fund, if you’re somebody who’s looking for a responsible investment, this is a great opportunity and time to do it.”

He stressed that the for-profit would “supplement and be additive” to the builder’s work with other registered providers, many of which are already in frameworks with Vistry.

“What we will do is identify a portfolio of opportunity for Linden First, which we would offer it, but that’s in addition to the work that we have ongoing with our existing partners,” Mr Teagle said.

Under the plan, Vistry would enter a framework agreement with Linden First to build a variety of new schemes “on a programmatic basis”.

By working initially with Vistry, Linden First would be able to have “access to market at scale” and an “anchor or seed portfolio of schemes that it can then deliver”, he said.

“It’s a great opportunity to give access to opportunities across all the English regional markets, including London,” Mr Teagle added.

The homes would be spread across urban, suburban and rural areas, and include shared ownership, social rent and affordable rent. They would include affordable homes delivered under Section 106 and ‘additionality’ homes built with grant funding from Homes England.

The investor would also be able to access Vistry Works, the house builder’s modern methods of construction arm, which builds timber-frame panels for low-rise houses in three factories.

Linden First will subsequently be able to work with any house builder to deliver homes, not just Vistry.

Linden First was established in 2012 and registered as a for-profit provider with the Regulator of Social Housing in 2013. However, the company has remained small and currently owns just eight homes.

The for-profit is currently chaired by Kate Davies, former boss of housing association Notting Hill Genesis. Its board members include Mr Teagle, Eamonn Hughes, former chief financial officer at Peabody, and Andrew Wiles, a former director at the Housing Corporation.

Last year, Mr Teagle told sister publication Social Housing that he wanted to grow Linden First’s portfolio to 5,000 homes within three years.