Investment firm KKR and UK residential development finance provider Urban Exposure have formed a 拢165m (鈧185.7m) lending platform to support small and medium-sized affordable housing developers.

Varun Khanna, a director at KKR鈥檚 credit arm, said: 鈥淜KR is excited to partner with Urban Exposure, working closely with management to find opportunities to create value in an evolving UK residential property market.

鈥淭he strength of our platform, outstanding management team and favourable market fundamentals will enable us to support SME developers in building affordable housing for the benefit of the UK.鈥

KKR鈥檚 investment is being made through its Credit funds, which currently have assets under management of $60.7bn (鈧52.2bn).

Sundeep Lakhtaria, a partner at Urban Exposure, said: 鈥淯rban Exposure has considerable experience in managing third party funds through a long history of joint ventures and syndicated transactions.

鈥淲e aim to leverage this strength in the asset management business through strategic and collaborative relationships such as this joint venture with KKR.鈥

Randeesh Sandhu, the CEO of Urban Exposure, said: 鈥淲e are pleased to have closed this joint venture, which is a continuation of our strategy to grow our third-party asset management business whilst also continuing to deploy our balance sheet lending funds.

鈥淭he scale of the venture means we can offer further significant support to SME developers as they seek funding for mainstream housing projects across the UK. We believe the venture will demonstrate our ability to deliver shareholder value by combining our experience with KKR鈥檚 significant financial and operational expertise.鈥