Octopus Real Estate’s for-profit provider purchases 180 homes from Kent-based housing association

The purchase comes after Octopus raised £50m as part of the first close of its Affordable Housing Fund in December.

And in January, Octopus raised £10m for the fund from Better Society Capital (previously known as Big Society Capital) and made its first investment through the fund to acquire 26 homes to be owned by NewArch Homes.

Peter Merchant, investment director at Octopus Real Estate, said: “We’re delighted to have acquired these modern, high-quality affordable homes.

“At Octopus Real Estate our aim is to work with housing providers and local authorities to accelerate the delivery of affordable homes, and we’re pleased this transfer will allow Golding Homes to reinvest funds to further increase the supply of affordable housing in the local community.”

Tom Casey, director of development and strategic asset management at Golding Homes, which manages more than 8,500 homes across Kent, said that the sale and transfer of the 180 homes located outside of its core operational area has been “a strategic objective”. 

“This transfer enables us to strengthen our commitment to customers in and around the Borough of Maidstone where we’re based, and deliver on our ambition to be visible, local and listening,” he said.

Golding said that an example of this “strong local commitment” is the housing association starting work in recent weeks on a development of 236 new energy-efficient affordable homes in Shepway, Maidstone.

Golding has also launched a £60m investment programme for improvements to existing homes, to be delivered over the next three years.

Mr Casey added: “We’re pleased to have worked collaboratively with NewArch Homes and its managing partner Southern Housing, to ensure this transition is smooth, and customers continue to receive a high-quality service.”