UK pension fund acquires 3,000 homes from Blackstone

The USS manages more than £75 billion worth of assets in the UK

American private equity firm Blackstone is selling 3,000 shared ownership homes to British pension fund, Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), for £405 million.

The USS manages more than £75 billion worth of assets in the UK.

The sale is one of the biggest of the year and follows a £580 million deal in June. Housebuilder Vistry sold 1,750 new homes to Blackstone and its partner, private equity group, Regis.

It is the biggest sale ever involving shared ownership homes. The scheme, which was created in the 90s, allows those who would not be able to buy a home to purchase a part of it. They then have the option to buy the rest of it in the future.

The move follows a rise in dealmaking in the UK housing sector. Investors are setting their sights on long-term returns given the huge supply deficit in the market.

Blackstone manages part of its property portfolio in the UK through Sage Homes, a joint housing venture with private equity investor Regis Group. There are 250 Sage Home sites in the UK.

James Seppala, Blackstone European head of real state, said the proceeds of the sale would be invested into Sage Homes to address the lack of housing in the UK.

He added that through Sage Homes, which was established in 2017, Blackstone has been the biggest provider of newly built affordable housing in the country for the last three years.

They have promised to build 22,600 affordable rent and shared ownership homes. 17,000 of these have already been built so far.