L&G for-profit appoints executive from G15 landlord to lead on acquisitions

Her exit comes at the same time as her colleague at Hyde, Guy Slocombe, is leaving to join SNG.  

Prior to Hyde, Ms Raysnford spent nine years at commercial property agent JLL. She began her career at L&Q as a senior development officer.

Ms Raynsford said: “I am pleased to have joined LGAH at a pivotal point for the business and look forward to helping deliver its next phase of growth through the acquisition of large, tenanted portfolios and partnerships with the sector, while placing sustainability at the heart of our approach.”

Chris Hewitt, chief investment officer at LGAH, told Social Housing in July that the provider is pursuing a new strategy by targeting portfolios of old homes owned by traditional housing associations.

During the same month, LGAH acquired 390 shared ownership homes from Orbit Group for almost £35m.

Ben Denton, chief executive of LGAH, said: “I am delighted to welcome Catherine to the team as we build out our strategy of forging impactful partnerships that allow us to deliver much-needed affordable housing at scale.

“Her experience will be an asset to us as we continue to expand on our acquisition and retrofitting capabilities to achieve our long-term ambitions in helping to solve the housing crisis faced by communities across the UK.”

Established in 2018 as L&G’s developer and operator of affordable housing, LGAH has invested £1bn to date and built a portfolio of 8,000 homes, with more than 5,000 in operation and 3,000 in development.

It became the first for-profit to receive compliant grades from the Regulator of Social Housing last year with G1*/V1* ratings.

In August this year, L&G registered four new for-profit registered providers, taking the number it owns to nine.

The appointment of Ms Raynsford follows the launch of the L&G Affordable Housing Fund in July, aimed at increasing housing supply in England while delivering diversified inflation-linked cash flow for investors.

The fund received an initial £125m injection from Access Pool, a group of 11 local authority pension schemes. In August it secured its second big investment of £120m from the Greater Manchester Pension Fund.