Octopus aims for 5,000-home portfolio as it kicks off bid to attract investors

Last summer Benjamin Davis, chief executive of Octopus Real Estate, told Social Housing that the company is aiming to grow its investment in the sector beyond £1bn in the long term. 

Mr Davis said at the time that there were “a dozen deals” in the pipeline with potential development partners such as housing associations and local authorities. 

However the spokesperson said last week that there is “no update on this yet”. 

Mr Davis’ original comments came a few weeks after Octopus Real Estate announced that it had acquired a registered provider, later revealed to be small Suffolk-based for-profit Rex Housing. 

As part of its efforts to build affordable homes, the firm said will it also draw on grant funding through Rex Housing. 

Octopus said it is aiming to provide “as many homes as possible” to a “zero bills” specification. In this situation Octopus said it will guarantee no bills for customers for “at least the first five years”.

Octopus last summer launched a pilot scheme with offsite specialist Ilke Homes to develop homes where energy bills are zero. This is being done through a combination of solar panels, battery storage and air source heat pumps.

Jack Burnham, head of affordable housing at Octopus Real Estate, said: “It’s really important to us that the homes we’ll be funding aren’t just affordable at the outset, but affordable throughout their use – we’re not looking to provide a quick fix and walk away.”