AHTO Group Ltd (AHTO) ‘Affordable Homes to Own’, working with banking giant Citi UK (part of American multinational Citigroup) will invest €1.17bn (£1bn) over the next five years in Intermediate Rent-to-Buy homes. The housing will be acquired from shared ownership or private sale housebuilders in cities and towns across the UK, and AHTO will then lease acquired properties to a partner, with customers able to buy their home at a discount to open-market-value at the end of their tenure. AHTO focus on investing up to €175.2m (£150m) per project in order to secure residential developments of up to 500 homes, including apartments and houses, in cities and commuter towns such as London, Leeds, Bristol, Manchester, Reading, Dartford and Woking.
Deploying an IRTB model, some 1,500 homes have already been delivered through the Rent-to-Buy structure in England and Wales. Over thirty English Councils have already approved the IRTB approach, with around another forty Councils favourable towards the approach. Within Greater London, nine of the London Boroughs are favourable towards Intermediate Rent-to-Buy housing provision.
Sam Senchal, Chief Investment Officer of AHTO said: “The only viable solution to the UK’s affordable housing crisis, without grant funding or subsidies, is to channel institutional investment into the market. The Intermediate Rent-to-Buy model brings together our partners and institutional investors to deliver more affordable homes for families with less complexity and cost compared with current affordable home models. At AHTO we are passionate about helping provide high-quality homes for people on lower incomes and supporting our Housing Association partners to help customers become homeowners.”
