Acorn reinvents property investing
Acorn Property Group has been building homes and working with private investors for more than 25 years, yet it is still innovating.
Under the stewardship of Melanie Omirou (pictured), the firm has pioneered sustainable housebuilding, funded numerous property developments throughout South West England, London and South Wales and has now expanded its remit to allow retail investors to get involved in this lucrative sector.
In 2019, Acorn Property Invest was launched as a way to allow investors to “diversify their portfolio and buy into a different, fresh aspect of the property market”. Acorn rolled out its latest ISA-friendly investment product earlier this year, and it will soon introduce a Shariah-compliant product targeting returns of between 5 per cent and 9.5 per cent per annum.
“Acorn is an independent house builder and regeneration specialist,” says Omirou.
“Since 1995 we’ve successfully created over 125 residential refurbishment and new build schemes across the country. We have offices in London, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter and Newquay, where we have local teams and we try and very much work with all those local communities.
“We have completed many joint ventures with landowners including farmers, charities, other property companies and developers, local authorities and other public bodies and housing associations.
“And we’ve got a really broad portfolio, including brownfield and greenfield sites, newbuilds and conversions, including listed buildings.”
From the beginning, Acorn has been committed to environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles – even before the trend for ESG investments took flight.
This commitment has become even more important to Acorn over the years, as the company’s stakeholders have increasingly requested socially responsible and environmentally friendly investment opportunities.
“All of our sites need bespoke sustainable solutions which we achieve through well considered design and construction methods,” Omirou says.
“We have made a commitment to design and build responsibly, adding quality and a sense of purpose to the immediate environment wherever we build. And we have internal teams of architects, surveyors and construction managers, who internally audit all of our schemes to make sure they fit within the Acorn ethos.”
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At present, Acorn is working on delivering even more low carbon homes by using air and ground source heat pumps and alternative energy sources to bring the energy performance certificate on all our new homes to an A rating.
“Everybody wants this,” Omirou says. “We have seen demand across the board, from both borrowers and investors, for energy-efficient homes and environmentally responsible projects. Even our banks are offering better funding terms for sustainable projects now.
“We want to be recognised as adding value to the local communities that we work in. And again, delivering great design and a commitment to responsible house building.”
Acorn’s track record speaks for itself. With a quarter of a century of building experience, and a demonstrable commitment to ESG principles and innovation, it is no wonder Acorn Property Invest is predicting big things for its future.
The company’s current pipeline of sites will provide more than 2,200 homes within the next three to five years, with a total value in excess of £1.2bn. Acorn is clearly not going to stop innovating and growing any time soon.
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