Socially conscious fund manager Thriving Investments, part of social enterprise Places for People (PfP) Group, has launched a £200m Greater Manchester essential worker housing fund.
The New Avenue Living Greater Manchester Housing Fund was created to deliver affordable, new-build homes for essential workers, offering rents discounted to a maximum of 80% of open market rates.
The initiative aims to address the region’s housing shortage while delivering significant local economic and social benefits, such as job creation, infrastructure improvements, and reduced cost of living pressures.
The fund secured an initial £30m in equity commitments from the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (GMPF), Better Society Capital (BSC), and Places for People Group.
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) also provided a £10m loan, creating a public-private funding structure that could serve as a blueprint for place-based impact projects across the UK.
With rents in Greater Manchester rising by 27.5% over the past two years, Thriving Investments said that many essential workers are being priced out of the areas they serve.
In 2023, a family in Manchester earning on the 25th percentile could afford only 5.5% of rental properties with two or more bedrooms, highlighting the severity of the affordability crisis.
Thriving Investments plans to develop a 1,000-home portfolio over the next three years, with the completed homes managed by Touchstone Property Management, PfP Group’s specialist property management arm.
The strategy involves partnering with local small to medium (SME) developers to deliver schemes of 50 to 150 homes, supporting local economies through job creation and regeneration initiatives.
The firm pledged that every home will meet an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band B or higher.
The fund marked Thriving Investments’ second essential worker housing strategy and its first in England.
Its £220m New Avenue Living Fund in Scotland, launched in 2018, is set to deliver 1,200 essential worker homes.
The company plans to replicate the model across other key UK regions, aiming to scale the delivery of affordable rental homes.
Cath Webster, CEO at Thriving Investments, said: “Far too many essential workers, who make a huge contribution to the UK economy and society, are struggling to secure long-term, quality, safe housing, which acts as a catalyst to employment, health and education, and is the foundation of strong communities.
“This new Fund is our first essential worker housing strategy in England and reflects the team’s expertise in finding solutions to the challenge the UK faces in delivering genuinely affordable rental properties, at scale, in critically undersupplied regions.
“In the Greater Manchester Pension Fund, Better Society Capital and Greater Manchester Combined Authority, we have partners that share our responsible, value-driven investment approach, and their backing is a strong endorsement of our vision to marry institutional capital and public funding via strategic partnerships to help solve the housing crisis.
“They recognise the uniqueness of our vertically integrated rental housing platform, which enables us to source, fund, develop and manage new homes, and has enabled us to grow our assets under advisory to over £1 billion on behalf of a range of UK pension funds and institutional capital partners.”
Paul Dennett, Deputy Mayor for Greater Manchester and GMCA Portfolio Lead for Housing First, said: “This Fund is a prime example of how we’re working together with the Greater Manchester Pension Fund and the private sector to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing our city-region: ensuring people have access to safe, decent, and genuinely affordable homes.
“We know that far too many essential workers, the backbone of our communities, are being priced out of the places they serve.
“That’s simply not right. In Greater Manchester, we’ve been clear: housing is a fundamental right, not a privilege.
“Through bold, innovative partnerships like this, we’re showing how public and private capital can be mobilised to deliver real social impact.
“By investing in high-quality homes at affordable rents, we’re not just helping key workers find somewhere to live, we’re supporting local jobs, regenerating communities, and making sure economic growth works for everyone.
“This investment directly supports the government’s ambition to boost housing supply and deliver fairer, more inclusive growth.
“But here in Greater Manchester, we’re going further—driving forward a vision where housing is about providing security, stability, and opportunity for the people who keep our communities running.”
Greg Reed, CEO at Places for People, said: “There’s no silver bullet in tackling this housing crisis.
“We need to be agile and innovative, and leverage opportunities that bring forward new housing schemes that cater to the needs of the communities we serve.
“This solution by Thriving Investments is another example of how we are disrupting the market to develop and nurture thriving communities.
“With PfP’s foundations built in the North West, it is a natural fit for us to recommit ourselves to one of our heartlands with our investment into this fund.”
Councillor Eleanor Wills, Chair of Greater Manchester Pension Fund, said: “Our Impact Portfolio seeks to invest locally and create a positive impact, alongside generating a commercial return.
“I am proud that the Greater Manchester Pension Fund, alongside Greater Manchester Combined Authority, is supporting Thriving Investments and its effort to deliver affordable essential worker housing in Greater Manchester.
“The strategy 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.”
Marie-Alix Prat, investment manager at Better Society Capital, said: “With cities becoming increasingly unaffordable, this investment seeks to provide new high-quality, affordable homes for essential workers in Greater Manchester, allowing them to live closer to their workplaces.
“We’re excited to collaborate with Thriving Investments, GMCA, and our co-investors to implement this innovative funding model in Manchester, while also supporting Places for People in delivering more affordable homes.”
