Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Avon Pension Fund has invested £50m in affordable housing, funding around 250 new homes for up to 1,000 people.

As part of the investment, which was made through the Octopus Affordable Housing Fund, at least 20 per cent of the new homes will be built in the Avon region including Bristol, Bath, northeast Somerset, north Somerset, and south Gloucestershire.

The investment is part of the fund’s £175m local impact portfolio and follows the £50m allocation to local renewable infrastructure last year made in collaboration with five other LGPSs.

The fund said the key objective of the investment is to embed carbon efficiency with very low energy bills, with more energy-efficient homes helping the fund achieve its goal of net-zero emissions by 2045.

“We are delighted to be investing in affordable housing and delivering meaningful societal change where it is so desperately needed,” commented Avon Pension Fund Committee vice chair, Shaun Stephenson-McGall.

“We’ve made significant progress in a very short space of time, making this commitment just months after deploying £50m capital into local renewable energy.

“Our investment will help raise the local supply of affordable housing, for those that need it most including middle-income families and key workers, while also delivering steady inflation-linked rental income, with capital growth, enabling the fund to meet future pension promises.”

Adding to this, Octopus head of affordable housing, Jack Burnham, said: “We're delighted to be working with Avon Pension Fund, not just to provide affordable homes across the UK, but to also use a portion of their investment to help Avon deliver much needed affordable homes in their own area.

“It’s great to see how our Affordable Housing Fund's innovative place-based co-investment offer has provided Avon with a solution to deliver local impact.”

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