Global investment manager Schroders announced today the launch of the UK Real Estate Impact Fund, aimed at delivering social impact outcomes, including addressing social inequality in deprived locations across the UK.

Chris Santer, Schroders Capital Impact Fund Manager, said:

“Real estate is uniquely placed to help address major social inequalities across the UK. Through our focus on deprived areas and working to understand the needs of local communities, we believe we can deliver place-based real estate solutions driving social change together with long-term financial value for investors.”

According to Schroders, the fund will predominantly invest to bring forward affordable homes, workplaces and mixed-use town center re-purposing projects, mostly in geographic areas defined as ‘deprived’ by the UK Government.

Schroders said that the fund’s objectives include addressing social deprivation and inequality as well as delivering a financial return, and that it will “seek to address social challenges faced by a range of beneficiaries including low-income families, community groups, social enterprises and SMEs.”

Additionally, each of the fund’s assets will have environmental targets aligned with Schroders‘s pathway to achieving net zero carbon across its global real estate asset portfolio by 2050.

Sophie van Oosterom, Global Head of Real Estate, Schroders Capital, said:

“The Covid pandemic exposed and exacerbated the widening gap in social inequality.  Schroders Capital’s UK Real Estate Impact Fund offers institutional investors the opportunity to be part of the solution to help address regional inequality through investment in real estate assets in more deprived areas in the UK. The fund will invest to deliver positive, measurable social impact alongside attractive long-term financial returns.”