The partnership will manage Gresham House Residential Secure Income LP, a UK shared ownership strategy, which will be renamed to reflect the partnership (“ReSI LP”).

The partnership between Thriving investments, which is part of the Places for People (PfP) group, and Gresham House is aiming to create a shared ownership platform of scale.

In addition, Ben Fry has been appointed to the newly created role of affordable housing fund director at Thriving Investments, effective immediately.

In this new role, Ben will continue to advise ReSI LP, while supporting Thriving Investments’ broader expansion ambitions in the shared ownership and affordable rent sectors.

At Gresham House, Ben was fund manager for ReSI LP, as well as Residential Secure Income plc, which he will continue to manage under a secondment agreement, alongside being the managing director of the two registered providers of social housing within these funds, ReSI Homes Limited and ReSI Housing Limited.

The fund has £120m of capital to deploy and is actively fundraising to build a £1bn plus shared ownership portfolio over the next five years, while it has already deployed almost £200m, amassing a 1,557 affordable homes portfolio, 1,100 of which are operational.

The partnership will see seven employees from Gresham House join Thriving Investments, while Thriving Investments CEO, Cath Webster, finance director, John Tatham, and fund manager, Jamie Younger, will join an expanded investment advisory committee.

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Meanwhile, Gresham House will continue to provide all FCA regulatory functions, oversight, finance and reporting, client servicing and fundraising functions for the fund — Thriving Investments will be responsible for managing the portfolio and sourcing and executing new acquisitions.

There are no proposed changes to the existing for-profit registered provider, ReSI Homes, or the membership of its board.

Commenting on the partnership, Cath Webster, CEO at Thriving Investments said: “This transformative partnership not only highlights the role private investment can bring into the sector, but delivers immediate opportunities to scale across the property, asset management and regulatory markets.

“It combines Gresham House’s proven capital raising capabilities, and deep LGPS relationships in particular, with Thriving Investments’ core activity of fund deployment and consistent delivery of market outperformance and strong social impact.

“The partnership will enable us to accelerate our ambitions in the shared ownership and affordable rental housing sectors, which are increasingly attractive to investors for their combination of stable income streams blended with capital growth, as part of our commitment to delivering high-quality, socially conscious communities.”

Anthony Dalwood, CEO at Gresham House added: “This significant partnership will create a best-in-class shared ownership platform for investors and unlock opportunities for continued investment and growth.

“Combining our expertise will accelerate essential investment in affordable, high-quality, energy efficient housing to support the government’s commitment to tackling the UK’s housing crisis.”