The Wales Pension Partnership (WPP) is making a real estate debt investment to deliver affordable Welsh housing.
Pluto Finance, a specialist development and bridge lender, is targeting an initial £30 million of lending in 2025. It is working with the WPP, a collaboration of the eight LGPS funds serving Wales, to provide capital ringfenced for deployment in Wales, with a focus on funding housebuilders and developers to deliver much needed local, affordable housing.
WPP will invest through Pluto Finance’s innovative local impact programme. This allows LGPS Funds and Pools to deliver meaningful placed-based investment and local impact, whilst maintaining their diversification to a national loan portfolio, Pluto Finance said.
The commitment particularly supports SME housebuilders, a sector which is struggling to access bank funding after recent regulatory changes. With inherently local supply chains, and a focus on building sustainable communities, SME housebuilders are also three times more likely to deliver the most energy efficient homes compared to the national housebuilders, the firm said.
WPP can support tangible impact to Welsh communities through the delivery of much needed affordable homes, directly driving regional economic growth, local regeneration and SME job creation, said Pluto Finance.
Cllr Elwyn Williams (Chair of the Joint Governance Committee), on behalf of the Wales Pension Partnership, said:
“The Wales Pension Partnership is committed to providing productive capital into Wales and we are delighted to have found a solution that delivers both in financial and local impact terms. This investment made through our private debt allocator, Russell Investments, will look to support both the Welsh economy and the affordable housing needs of our local community.”
Ashley Manning-Brown, Head of UK Investor Solutions at Pluto Finance, said:
“We are thrilled to be working with the Wales Pensions Partnership, to help them deliver a step change in local, affordable housing. By utilising our innovative approach to place-based investment, the WPP will be supporting local communities and their housing needs, while delivering investment and SME job creation into the region.”
