What Works in Affordable Housing Investment?

Send us a textMonica O'Neill is CEO of ENSO Advisors LLC. She was a Co-Founder at Tristan Capital Partners, and a Managing Director at AEW Europe. She joined Anna Clare Harper for this episode of The Return.Monica has grown two multi-billion dollar real estate platforms and helped shape the US affordable housing system (via Low-Income Housing Tax Credit).Now she’s doubling down on UK residential, especially affordable and supported housing.In this episode, we discuss:-       Why 2025 is a ‘vintage year’ for UK affordable and supported housing -       What the UK can learn from US affordable housing tax breaks-       Why it’s so important to ask more questions - and ignore hype Her advice?“If you can’t explain the risks out loud, you don’t understand it.”Wire Wisdom https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wire-wisdom/id1797011168 Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-oneill-greenstrategies/ Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/ Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/

Send us a textRichard Hyde, founder of Thinkhouse joined Anna Clare Harper for this episode of The Return. ThinkHouse is a brilliant, hand-selected library of housing insights.Written by people who’ve been in the weeds.So you don’t need to reinvent the wheel.→ Work smart, not hard.This week on The Return, Anna spoke to Richard Hyde, founder of ThinkhouseA library of 1,000+ reports on housing, policy and strategy.Highlights:  -  98% of homes we’ll live in by 2030 already exist → retrofit is key  -  Land release is blocked by inertia, not intent  -  Planning reform alone won’t fix viability  -  Small builders + compliance tools = overlooked opportunityListen in to learn what’s working, what’s missing and where the real opportunities lie.Guest website: https://www.thinkhouse.org.uk/Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/

Send us a textIn this episode, the podcasting roles were reversed. Erica Sosna interviewed Anna Clare Harper, Host of The Return and Co-Founder of GreenResi.Anna says, 'I was lucky to be invited on The Career Equation, hosted by Erica Sosna - career coach and Good Housekeeping’s in-house career expert. The format is that each guest brings a career challenge they are facing and Erica helps them through it using her methodology. My challenge (at the time of recording - a few months ago now) was: should I focus on solving problems for individual investors (the backbone of the residential market, who I worked with on 300 deals, who I wrote for in the Telegraph etc) or institutions (whose interest in UK residential is growing, and who are my main clients now).Erica did such a good job that this question hasn’t bothered me at all since recording, but I thought it was useful to share as, underneath it all, it’s a common problem we all have to navigate at some point: how to adapt to market changes.'Guest website: The Career Equation®Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericasosna/Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/

Send us a textAndy Rothery, Head of Europe for Real Foundations / Former Head of Deloitte Real Estate and Maya the Robot joined Anna Clare Harper for this episode of The Return.‘AI will replace us.’No.AI will scale us.AI will free us.AI will sharpen us.To become a high-performing, high-growth real estate business, you embrace it all. → Automate what slows you down - like messy bank reconciliations → Focus your team on value-add work - like relationship-building. → Use robots to double your AUM - without hiring.In the US, building custom real estate business robots is becoming the norm. In the UK, 99% don’t do it.Find out how to double your Assets Under Management without hiring.From Maya the Robot.And Andy Rothery, Head of Europe for Real Foundations / Former Head of Deloitte Real Estate. Maya the Robot created by https://www.sesame.com/Guest website: http://www.realfoundations.net/Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-rothery-a8209818/Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/

Send us a textHelen Gordon, CEO of Grainger PLC, the UK’s largest listed residential landlord joined Anna Clare Harper for this episode of The Return.What people think you should do:Take a huge mortgage.Own a home ASAP.Consider your home to be your main ‘investment’.Spend the bulk of your money on your home.Or, you could:Enjoy living in a much nicer place than you could afford to buy.Waste less time on property maintenance.Enjoy the flexibility, and move when you want to (not after 3 x sale fall throughs).Make informed investment decisions suited to your age and stage of life.Spending all your money on a home doesn’t necessarily give you financial freedom.Being strategic about your property (and other) investments will. Anna spoke to Helen Gordon, CEO of Grainger PLC, the UK’s largest listed residential landlord about:→ The benefits of renting over buying for many of their customers.→ Misalignment of incentives in rental property.→ How to enjoy a career in real estate and investment.Guest website: https://corporate.graingerplc.co.uk/ Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/

Send us a textAnna Clare Harper spoke with Aubrey Adams OBE, Chair of Tritax Big Box REIT (FTSE 250), Former Chair of L&Q (105,000 homes) and Former CEO of Savills about building trust and how housing gets funded.The episode covers:→ How to fund and scale Housing Associations (Including cash flow, bonds, grant etc).→ How real estate Boards can build trust.→ Where public housing providers should take risk.Guest website: https://www.tritaxbigbox.co.uk/ Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/

Send us a textAnna Clare Harper spoke to Guy Horne, CEO of HSPG, a real estate company that acquires, manages and develops residential property, in particular Affordable housing.This episode includes:What are the key differences between affordable, Affordable, social, and supported housing, in words my mum can understand?What are the hottest strategies for Living Sector investors seeking to solve the homelessness crisis, including place-based portfolios?What impact is grant funding having on what investment strategies work?What Guy’s most recommended resource is.Guest website: http://www.hspg.co.uk Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guy-horne-b6646722/Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/

Send us a textAnna Clare Harper chatted with Gus Wiseman, Head of Investor Relations for the UK Government’s Office for Investment about: What international capital thinks about UK housing vs. Europe vs. the US.How UK real estate platforms can position themselves to secure investment from global pension funds.Why self-deprecation is doing UK Plc no favours - and what we can do about it.Guest website: http://great.gov.uk Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/guswiseman/Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/

Send us a textAnna Clare Harper chatted with John German, Managing Director Alternative Investments at Invesco Real Estate about the differences between UK and European Living Sector Investment, with a special focus on Affordable Housing. This episode is brilliant for anybody new to this sector as John is an expert at navigating this sometimes complex sector. It covered:Who’s who and what’s what in Living Sector investmentWhat different investors look for: Income vs Total Return (including capital growth)The differences between UK living sectors and other living sectors internationally in terms of scale, maturity and return expectationsThe significance of the UK’s regulatory framework for affordable housing, meaning Affordable housing needs to be provided by Registered ProvidersWhat premium international investors need to make on Living Sector investments, to justify currency risk.Guest website: https://www.invesco.com/us/en/strategies/alternatives/real-estate.html Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-german-2437573b/Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/

Send us a textAnna Clare Harper chatted to Phil Clark, NED at Pinnacle Group (70,000 UK homes); Thriving Investments, part of Places for People; Chair of Pinnacle Investments (a partner of ours); Executive Chair at Wellcome Trust’s Genome Campus; and Investment Committee NED at UCL and PIC.They discussed what role institutional investors play in the UK Living Sector, and how to become a NED.Topics include the match between institutions and social/affordable housing, including:- Scale – Housing Associations are some of the UK’s largest landlords, with an average of 2,801 homes each (and many far bigger). - Income growth – Typically offering some protection against inflation.- Attractive yields – Standing stock can generate 4-5% returns.- Social impact – Many institutions actively seek investments that deliver real-world benefits, and housing is a tangible way to meet urgent needs.Phil explained what role institutions can play in solving the crisis of affordable (and Affordable) housing, investing through: - Debt – Lending to Housing Associations, in the same way they would allocate capital to other bond investments. - Equity – Investing in the end product.Guest website: https://wellcome.org/ Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-clark-8761ba26/Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/Host website: https://www.greenresi.com/