Brookfield is forging into the UK affordable housing sector.

Brookfield has bought a for-profit registered affordable housing provider and struck an agreement with Sigma Capital to build and manage its affordable homes, Inside Housing Living reported. 

The Canadian investment giant bought registered provider WH Housing from Dorset-based housebuilder Wyatt Homes in September and renamed it Ursa Affordable Housing, Inside Housing said.

The size of its planned investment has not been disclosed, but Brookfield typically looks to invest several hundred million pounds or more in the platforms it creates.

Brookfield UK Managing Director Dominic Williamson is among the directors of Ursa, and a trio of housing heavyweights have joined as nonexecutive board members: former Homes England Chief Executive Gordon More, former Thriving Investments Director Alex Notay and former McLaren Group Director Karen McElhatton.

Brookfield has been one of the biggest investors in rented residential real estate in Europe over the past decade. In the UK, it built up student housing provider Students Roost before selling it for £3B to GIC and Greystar in 2022. 

Last year, it bought a portfolio of 1,300 houses of multiple occupation across the UK as another way of accessing the student sector.

Sigma is one of the biggest developers and managers of single-family housing in the UK and is owned by PineBridge Benson Eliot and Oxford Properties. It has £2.7B of assets under management, including joint ventures with Gatehouse Bank, EQT and the group of UK pension funds that took PRS REIT private for £1.1B in December.

Brookfield’s new affordable housing strategy follows fellow North American investor Blackstone, which has built up a significant platform in the sector.

Blackstone moved into UK affordable housing in 2017 and has built up Sage Housing to more than 10,000 homes valued at nearly £1.7B.