John Greenwood said a new law preventing the simultaneous ownership and operation of properties catering to the 12 million UK residents currently living with some form of disability has prevented new people from entering the market, creating an opportunity for investment.
Provisionally, investors into the assisted living funds will pay initial sums as large as £100m into 23-year, inflation linked leases on the properties.
These will then be rented out to the UK government at an initially agreed cost.
The project, which has already been awarded a credit rating of BBB, aims to provide returns of 8%-9%.
Greenwood said that, while the market is currently immature and has no scale, it will eventually “be talked about in the same breath as property investments such as student accommodation”.
He added that the funds are less likely to be at risk of suspension than other property funds, such as the Brandeaux Student Accommodation funds, because of their increased liquidity.
“The illiquidity seen in other property investment is always a possibility,” he said. “However, it will be less likely with this investment because we deal with very small lots which are easier to sell.
“Unlike the well-utilised student accommodation market, assisted living is currently untapped.”
He also said the funds are likely to attract the interest of offshore investors, who will be swayed by the long term lease, which will remove the “hassle” of normal remote property investment.
“It will raise the standards of living for many people by giving them a community and a house,” he added.
Last month, law firm Regulatory Legal said it was now in a position to “initiate claims” against advisers who invested into the, now defunct, range of Brandeaux student accommodation funds.
The company, which represents 20 former investors, said it will proceed to the Financial Ombudsman and Financial Services Compensation Scheme services.
Brandeaux suspended its entire fund range in July last year, following adverse market movements which created a “great deal of uncertainty, created by over £2bn of student accommodation property in the market”.
Following the suspension, Greenwood hit out at the management strategy of the fund, saying investors had gotten used to unrealistic returns, but that the sector itself remained robust, adding that “elephant’s don’t run”.
