Manchester Pension invests £100m in L&G housing fund

Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF) has invested £100 million into an investment fund developed and managed by Legal and General (L&G) to deliver affordable homes across North West England.

The new regional vehicle is a structured extension to L&G’s flagship Affordable Housing Fund, launched in July 2024 to develop high quality, sustainable affordable housing nationally.

The fund is tailored specifically for the Northern LGPS (Local Government Pension Scheme), of which GMPF is a member, to allow it to deploy capital into affordable housing development specifically in the North West.

There are 1.3 million people on local authority waiting lists for social housing, with 207,000 within the North West alone.

The fund will build affordable homes across the region.

GMPF is the largest LGPS fund and the eleventh biggest defined benefit pension fund in the UK. It looks after more than 375,000pensions, paying over £750 million of benefits each year.

Councillor Eleanor Wills, Chair, GMPF, said: “We are acutely aware of the severe housing crisis both nationally and in the North-West region. With record numbers of homeless children placed in temporary accommodation, the ever-growing waiting lists for social housing, and the younger generation being priced out of home ownership.

“This is why we are proud to continue our longstanding partnership with Legal & General to launch a specific vehicle for Northern LGPS that supports the Government’s plan to provide much-needed affordable homes for hardworking families while ensuring strong, low-risk returns to secure the pensions of our members.”

Ali Farrell, Fund Manager, L&G Asset Management, said: “This fund is the culmination of a long partnership with GMPF and reflects L&G’s commitment to delivering more affordable housing where it is most needed. This is a great example of partnership working between the public and private sectors to increase investment into the affordable housing sector, and increase the choice, quality and availability of affordable housing across North West England.”

Northern LGPS, formerly known as “Northern Pool”, is a partnership between the Greater Manchester (GMPF), Merseyside (MPF) and West Yorkshire (WYPF) Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds.