Ga naar artikel navigatie Ga naar inhoud

Portfolio policy

The ARC Fund invests in the Dutch residential sector with a strong focus on affordable/attainable, high-quality, and sustainable residential properties located in areas with the best economic and demographic potential. These areas are:

Figure 12: Focus areas

Mid-priced rental segment

The ARC Fund focuses on affordable/attainable rental homes in the mid-priced segment, consistent with our guiding principle of bringing sustainable homes in high-quality living environments within the reach of many. By investing in this segment, we help solve the growing shortage of affordable housing in the Netherlands. It is also attractive from an investment perspective, due to the rising demand for affordable, high-quality housing in our focus areas. Several changes in legislation and tax regulations have impacted or will impact this sector in the coming years.

Target groups

Our target groups are based on market trends and developments and inform our product-market combinations. Our primary target groups are:

  • Young professionals
    The ARC Fund aims to appeal to young professionals with higher incomes who prefer the flexible nature of renting and are attracted to the amenities of large cities.

  • Elderly singles and couples
    We aim to appeal to a growing 65-and-older population with no or limited care needs by investing in life cycle-proof housing concepts near daily amenities that provide an attractive alternative to regular single-family housing.

  • Families
    We meet the high demand for affordable family homes in the private rental segment as a result of strict income requirements for social housing and criteria for obtaining a mortgage.

  • Key workers
    We aim to provide affordable housing options to key workers in the healthcare, education, and security sectors, particularly in areas that are experiencing major shortages. There we will allocate about 50% of selected properties to key workers. In order to improve circulation in the housing market, priority is given to candidates who are willing and able to transition from a social rental home to a private rental home.

  • Expats
    The ARC Fund meets the demand for rental homes for expats who typically have higher income levels and remain in the country for limited periods of time. The demand is concentrated in mobility hubs.

Topics of interest

Market trends and developments have a significant impact on the ARC Fund strategy. We monitor these trends closely to ensure the long-term quality and resiliency of our portfolio, with stable and attractive yields for our investors. Based on our strategic pillars, we have identified four topics of interest for existing and future investments.

Area management

Area management is an important part of the ARC Fund strategy. Amvest’s role as a project and an area developer, and the ARC Fund’s Right of First Refusal (RoFR) agreement, create attractive opportunities for investment. By investing in a high-quality environment with the right amenities for the right target groups, we increase the value of our assets, the quality of our properties, and grow the demand.

Community management

To help solve the shortage of affordable housing, particularly in the largest cities, we invest in multi-family housing solutions characterised by compact individual or shared apartments in a high-quality environment. We apply community management concept Livvin to contribute to the quality of the living environment. Its key aspects are:

  • The Community Space to provide a place to connect and socialise.

  • The Community Manager to assist tenants, forge connections, and build community.

  • The Community App as a one-stop shop for tenants to participate in their community and manage service requests.

Community management is also key to our 2Peer co-living concept. This concept is targeted towards singles and young professionals in the four largest cities. It features shared apartments (c. 40m2) with private bedrooms and bathrooms and shared living rooms and kitchens. These properties are in proximity of public transportation and may include amenities such as flexible workspaces and communal areas. Due to the use of shared spaces, the size of each private apartment is reduced substantially, resulting in a lower rental price.

Customer journey

Tenant satisfaction is an important value to Amvest and the ARC Fund. We actively improve the Amvest customer journey to enhance our tenants’ experience. Our investments in the customer journey are concentrated in three areas:

1) Property management partnership model: we plan to replace our traditional outsourcing model for property management with a partnership model. Dedicated Amvest teams, clear roles and responsibilities, and remuneration based on workload, complexity, and performance are key characteristics of the partnership model.

2) Digitalisation: we are investing in digital services to enhance the quality of our property management services and consequently the tenant experience. This includes the extended roll-out of the Klantvolgsysteem (KVS), a CRM application that enables property and asset management to view tenants’ support requests, assign them to a partner or contractor, and access the status of the request. Through our Community App, which connects with the KVS, tenants can connect with other members of the community, arrange (housekeeping) services and submit their service requests.

3) Standardised marketing and rental procedures: by standardising our way of working, we aim to improve the quality of our services and customer experience, reduce vacancy rates, increase (cost) efficiency, and minimise fraud.

Sustainability

Investing in a sustainable portfolio is an important part of the ARC Fund strategy. In recent years, we have been developing our roadmap to Paris-proof, which involves reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and becoming climate neutral by 2050. The 2022 materiality assessment showed that achieving net zero emissions remains a priority to all stakeholders. We work with an advisor to evaluate sustainability improvements, considering both the effectiveness and feasibility of various options. We translate these findings to short-term goals and long-term approach and budget.

The ARC Fund invests in sustainable real estate by acquiring properties that meet strict energy efficiency standards and by investing in sustainability improvements of its standing portfolio. As part of our roadmap to Paris proof, we are committed to reducing carbon emissions by 50% between 2020 and 2030 and becoming climate neutral by 2050.

We use the Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor (CRREM) framework to create and update our roadmap. The CRREM framework helps us examine the environmental performance of our portfolio and informs what investment decisions (acquisitions and CAPEX) to make to reduce our carbon emissions in line with the Paris climate goals.