Housing Investment Taskforce report

Partnership models highlighted by the Taskforce

Case Study: Highland Housing Alliance & Tulloch Homes - Partnering to Deliver Mid-Market Rent in Rural Communities

Tulloch Homes, part of the Springfield Group, has partnered with not-for-profit developer, Highland Housing Alliance (HHA), to increase the delivery of homes for mid-market rent (MMR) across Inverness and the Cairngorms, including at Kirkhill, Conon Bridge, Aviemore, Carrbridge and Newtonmore.

HHA is one of the key local partners addressing the supply of new homes across the highlands, with a focus on MMR. HHA works in partnership with The Highland Council and the Scottish Government for funding and finance as well as utilising funding from the City Region Deal, which is available up to the end of the financial year 2025/26. In Aviemore, over £580,000 was secured from the Scottish Government’s Rural Affordable Homes for Key Workers fund (RAHFKW) to purchase seven three-bedroom MMR homes that were made available exclusively for key workers including healthcare professionals, emergency services, teachers and care workers via an MMR tenancy.

The partnership between Tulloch and HHA exemplifies effective collaboration, offering a diverse range of housing options to accommodate various demographics and ensure access to high-quality, energy efficient homes across Highland communities. The delivery of these new homes will help retain skilled professionals locally, ensuring schools, healthcare, and services remain viable.

Supported through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, since October 2023, contracts between Tulloch and HHA have been signed for the delivery of 141 MMR homes by September 2026, representing a significant offering in Highland communities and Inverness. Further opportunities are already being explored, with both partners keen to keep the successful momentum going.

The demand for homes is expected to increase sharply in this region as the Inverness & Cromarty Firth Green Freeport attracts further investment and new workforces to the region. With The Highland Council seeking to double housing output, innovative partnerships like this will be essential to secure additional housing supply to meet the growing need.

Case Study: Legal & General, English Cities Fund Model

The English Cities Fund (ECF) partnership of Legal & General, Muse and Homes England is aiming to deliver 18,000 homes in England. Homes England expect to make a profit from this model; it is not simply grant funding and can sit as an asset in accounts rather than a liability.

Once land is acquired, ECF acts as a developer and invests funds to secure planning and either directly forward fund construction or seek funding partners.

ECF was first created in 2001 with £100 million of equity investment and has completed five mixed-use regeneration projects across England (Liverpool, London, Plymouth, Salford and Wakefield) worth £1.2 billion. This has delivered 2,150 homes in new neighbourhoods, commercial space and created over 8,000 jobs.

In 2021 the fund size had doubled to £200 million of equity, matched with a further £100 million of debt, and a new project win in St Helens and Stockport Town Centre. By 2024, the fund had increased to £300 million equity and a further £100 million of debt.

In 2001 the English Cities Fund 1 contained equity of £50m from Homes England, £25m from Muse, £25m from LGIM and a debt of £100m to Barclays

In 2021, the English Cities Fund 2 contained equity of £100m from Homes England, £50m from Muse, £50m from LGIM and debt of £200m to Barclays

In 2024, the English Cities Fund 3 contained equity of £150m from Homes England, £75m from Muse, £75m from LGIM, and debt of £300m to Barclays

Case Study: Casa by Moda, Vista Park

Casa at Vista Park is a 156 single-family home (SFH) rental neighbourhood in Springboig, Glasgow. Opened in November 2023, the neighbourhood was built by construction and manufacturing company CCG and is now owned and rented by purpose-built rental provider Casa by Moda – the SFH arm of Build to Rent developer Moda Group.

CCG acquired the Vista Park site in 2021 and, in collaboration with Casa by Moda, delivered a fully occupied rental neighbourhood in just over three years. This involved securing planning permission, meeting regulatory requirements and building 156 homes alongside necessary infrastructure and community amenities.

Collaboration between the businesses provided financial certainty to CCG that the homes being built as part of a staged completion approach would be acquired on a pre-agreed phased timeline, an effective ‘pre-let’ of the entire site. This allowed CCG to invest confidently in infrastructure and build at scale without facing the uncertainty and complexities of the open sales market. Casa by Moda also benefited from a clear delivery schedule, enabling early marketing, phased resident mobilisation, and improved development viability.

Casa by Moda and CCG spent considerable time together early in the project, working across technical, legal, planning and operation teams from both sides to ensure optimal delivery. This early collaboration paved the way for a smooth delivery programme, which saw the full site delivered on time and on budget in February 2025.

Case Study: Thriving Investments, New Avenue Living

The Scottish Mid-Market Rent (MMR) fund, branded New Avenue Living, was established in 2018 by Thriving Investments, following a Scottish Government tendering process which sought innovative ways to deliver additional MMR homes. Research indicated a significant shortfall of homes available and affordable to households on typical key worker incomes in areas of greatest need. MMR properties are aimed at households who would have difficulty in accessing social housing, buying their own home or renting privately in the open market. MMR households generally have an income of between £20,000 and £45,000 per annum.

The key purpose of the fund is to facilitate and accelerate the delivery of affordable homes in areas of the greatest demand. Working closely with a range of development partners, the fund delivers homes which would otherwise have been for private sale or rental and often brings forward sites which had otherwise stalled.

MMR Fund key features and achievements:

• Structure: Government debt and equity from investors
• Currently £175m of investor equity delivering MMR Homes while government funding enables affordable rents
• Long-term fund attractive to Local Government Pension Schemes and ‘impact’ investors
• Will deliver over 1200 additional affordable homes at EPC ‘B’
• Supports local Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) developers
• Can bring forward stalled sites
• Focus on regeneration of brownfield sites
• Targeting locations commutable by public transport