Jonathan Rose Companies announced plans to extend its affordable housing investment and impact expertise into the United Kingdom, establishing a U.K. affordable housing investment platform and launching a dedicated Rose UK Social and Affordable Housing Fund.
Jonathan Rose Companies’ initial strategy will focus on funding the development of new affordable housing delivered through Section 106 agreements in Bristol, London and Manchester, and Section 75 agreements in Edinburgh and Glasgow. These projects are typically part of mixed-income communities and are designed to be fossil fuel-free in line with the U.K. Future Homes Standard.
“The affordable housing challenges facing the U.K. are shaped by some of the same underlying forces we see in the US and many parts of the western world: rising costs, insufficient supply, aging stock, and the need for long-term capital partners,” said Jonathan F.P. Rose, founder and CEO of Jonathan Rose Companies. “Over 35 years of work across the U.S., we have learned that durable housing solutions require more than capital. They require genuine public-private partnerships, deep local knowledge, and a systems-level mindset that treats housing as a platform for improving community health, stability, and realizing opportunity. We look forward to bringing that approach to the UK, and to learning from partners who have been doing this work for a long time.”
The expansion comes as the UK faces a significant shortage of affordable and social housing. Many nonprofit Registered Providers (RPs), which have historically acquired, developed and managed this type of housing, face growing headwinds driven by aging housing stock, building safety and regulatory requirements, decarbonization mandates and limited balance sheet capacity.
The planned Rose UK Social and Affordable Housing Fund will focus on acquiring existing and funding newly built or to-be-built social and affordable housing assets across key UK markets. This will include homes delivered through the country’s established planning and housing frameworks and in partnership with RPs and other local housing organizations.
“Jonathan Rose Companies’ decision to launch its first international platform and dedicated housing fund in the U.K. is a strong vote of confidence in our market,” said Alan Gogbashian, deputy trade commissioner for North America at the U.K.’s Department for Business and Trade. “The U.K. government has set an ambition of 1.5 million new homes this Parliament, and this is exactly the kind of experienced, mission-driven U.S. investment partnership we need to help deliver affordable housing at scale.”
The U.K. policy environment to support new-build housing growth is positive, with the current government targeting 300,000 new affordable and market homes each year over its five-year term.
Also central to the Rose Communities model in the U.S. is a commitment to social impact, connecting residents to services and programs that can improve opportunity, health and wellbeing and long-term life outcomes. Jonathan Rose Companies plans to bring that resident-focused approach to the affordable housing communities it proposes to build and fund in the UK.
To support the initiative, Jonathan Rose Companies has engaged Ben Denton, a U.K. affordable housing investment professionals to establish the firm’s local presence, support fund formation and build a pipeline of investment opportunities aligned with the firm’s long-term affordable housing strategy. Denton brings over two decades of experience across the UK’s housing and residential sectors. He previously established and scaled Legal & General’s affordable housing platform, helping grow the business into a nationally recognized platform with more than 8,000 homes. He work alongside Jonathan Rose Companies’ Dawn Mottram, who spent a majority of her career delivering social and affordable housing with two of the large RPs in the UK: London & Quadrant Housing Trust and Southern Housing Group.
Jonathan Rose Companies is working alongside a growing network of U.K.-based advisors and industry specialists and expects to grow its dedicated local investment and asset management presence over time. The firm is currently engaging with developers, RPs, government stakeholders and institutional investors as it advances its UK affordable housing strategy.
Jonathan Rose Companies has acquired and developed more than $5 billion of affordable housing, pioneered impact real estate investing and built a current portfolio of nearly 20,000 apartment homes across 14 states and Washington, D.C.
