Scaling affordable housing in Belgium.
Reliving is a private debt fund for affordable housing in Belgium. It offers institutional investors a modest but stable return, built on the strengths of real estate: a long horizon, predictable cash flows and well-understood risks. Alongside that financial return, it delivers a clear social impact close to home.
What is Reliving?
Reliving is a private debt fund that finances affordable housing in Belgium along two tracks.
Models beyond speculation. We finance legal models that take housing out of the speculative real estate market, such as housing cooperatives and community land trusts.
Housing for those the market does not serve. We finance housing for groups the market does not currently serve: people with low incomes, single-parent families and newcomers. We also back new housing solutions where the current supply does not fit, such as homes for older adults and people with disabilities, adapted to their physical and social needs.
Many of these initiatives are rooted in their neighbourhood, and strengthen it in return. Resilient neighbourhoods make for a healthier society and for housing that lasts.
The strengths of real estate
Tangible assets. Real buildings and land with a long life, not abstract products.
Predictable cash flows. Rental income from housing with structural demand.
A long horizon. Long terms that match the long liabilities of pension funds and insurers.
Structural demand. The shortage of affordable housing in Belgium is large and persistent.
Diversification. Housing finance moves less in step with shares and bonds. That gives institutional portfolios a source of return that does not depend on the mood of financial markets.
Scale
Real estate investments need large amounts of capital. For many housing projects, raising that funding takes too much time and energy. At the same time, large funds and institutional investors look for ways to place bigger tickets. Reliving connects these two worlds.
A new role for institutional capital
Institutional investors such as pension funds, insurers and investment funds manage large sums on behalf of citizens. Reliving helps them put more of that money to meaningful use close to home, as a credible alternative alongside financial markets. Long-term real estate investment contributes to the real economy and creates value steadily, year after year.
For pension funds the logic is especially strong. Our life savings partly exist to ensure dignity after retirement. Reliving invites them to also protect dignity before retirement, by making housing accessible to the very people whose savings they manage.
Social impact built in
Before we finance an initiative, we ask three questions. Who is the housing for? How long does it stay affordable? How involved are the residents and the neighbourhood? Priority goes to housing for people the market does not currently serve: people with low incomes, single-parent families, newcomers, older adults and people with disabilities.
We measure impact from the first investment onwards, in the pilot, and refine our approach as we learn.
What makes it different?
Larger tickets for models that work
Many valuable housing models are well designed but struggle to raise enough capital at once. Reliving offers larger tickets, so these models can scale up instead of assembling their funding in many small rounds. In the higher-risk development phase, we provide subordinated bullet loans (so-called semi-equity), where financing is hardest to find.
The Reliving Project — pilot phase
Before setting up the full fund, we are running a pilot to test every phase of the investment process, evaluate the financial aspects and check the impact. We do this together with ImpaktEU, a private debt fund managed by Inpulse and Funds for Good, and in close contact with the housing initiatives on the ground.
A group of committed impact investors brought together €1 million to invest, in the form of loans, in 4 to 5 initiatives across Belgium. These investments form a separate compartment within ImpaktEU.
The pilot builds the evidence base for the launch of the full fund, with an initial target of €50 million and the ambition to grow far beyond that.
Our supporters and partners
To our pilot investors, a group of committed impact investors who stepped into this with us and made the pilot possible.
While developing the model, we held an extended consultation round with housing initiatives, developers, funds and investors of all types, network organisations, legal experts and fund managers. Thank you for your trust, openness and willingness to share knowledge.
Special thanks go to Pieter-Jan of Trividend and to the team at We Are Impact Collective. Their work shows that ecosystem building is more than a buzzword and what it looks like in practice.
Thank you to the ImpaktEU team, ethics committee and board for their trust, and for backing this project when it was still new.
Our kickstart grant. We are very grateful for their trust in the earliest stage of this project.
Funding for the development of the model and the start of the pilot.
How to get involved
As an institutional investor
We are building relationships with pension funds, insurance companies and investment funds that want to explore investing in housing in a way that meets their requirements. Get in touch to learn more about the pilot or the upcoming fund.
As a housing initiative
Are you developing affordable housing in Belgium and looking for financing? We want to hear from you. During the higher-risk development phase, we provide subordinated bullet loans (so-called semi-equity).
As a philanthropic partner
During the pilot phase, Redirect relies on grants and philanthropic support to remain fully independent. Additionally, we’ll require capital to launch a system of credits rewarding the impact of the initiatives and seed capital for early stage initiatives. If you share our vision, consider supporting us.
