The investment has been made by the Octopus Affordable Housing Fund and will support construction across sites in Northam and Bideford.

The scheme has also received grant funding from Homes England, helping all the homes to be delivered as affordable housing.

This will convert what would have been private sale homes into a mix of social rent, affordable rent, and shared ownership.

The project will create 238 beds across the 82 homes, all designed to be EPC-rated B and fossil fuel free with energy provided through air source heat pumps.

The homes will range from two- to four-bedrooms in size.

Construction is already underway, with the homes to be delivered on a freehold basis.

The first units are due to complete in Spring 2026, with the final homes expected by Summer 2027.

•   Octopus raises £100m for affordable housing
•   Octopus backs sustainable Essex scheme with £20m
•   Octopus funds net-zero Somerset scheme with £3.15m

NewArch, the Octopus-owned registered provider of social housing, will be the long-term landlord for the homes, with housing management to be provided by Pinnacle.

“These are two fantastic sites that will create real opportunities for people and families to put down roots in their local community,” said Ellie Vlavianou, investment director at Octopus Capital.

“We’re very proud to be working with trusted partners to deliver high-quality, sustainable homes where they’re needed most.

“We’re also excited about the potential to grow our partnership with Vistry as we both look forward to delivering more schemes like this across the country.”

Oliver Grieve, partnerships housing manager at Vistry, added: “We look forward to building on this partnership to deliver even more affordable housing with Octopus and NewArch Homes.”

Legal counsel for the deal was provided by Devonshires.