About This Fund
The Irish Social Housing Fund (ISHF) is a real estate impact fund established in 2018 to address Ireland's chronic undersupply of social and affordable housing. Co-founded by RoundShield Partners, a pan-European special situations real estate investor, and debt advisory group New Beginning, the fund acquires, redevelops and manages residential properties that are then leased on long-term agreements—typically 25 years—to local authorities and approved housing bodies (AHBs) at below-market rents. Since inception, the fund has deployed more than €100 million in equity to purchase and refurbish over 400 homes and apartments across Ireland.
The fund's investment strategy targets existing residential stock requiring capital improvement, repositioning or planning clarification before becoming suitable for long-term social tenancy. By working directly with county councils, approved housing bodies and the Housing Agency, ISHF bridges a structural gap between private capital markets and publicly mandated housing delivery programmes. The fund's revenue model—long-term government-backed lease income—provides investors with stable, index-linked cash flows underpinned by the Irish State's social housing obligations, which remain a priority under successive national housing plans.
Irish Social Housing Fund has received debt financing from leading Irish financial institutions including AIB, which provided €30 million to support the acquisition of 100 homes. The fund operates as a specialist vehicle within Ireland's growing impact real estate segment, which has attracted increasing interest from institutional investors seeking long-duration, socially impactful income assets as an alternative to conventional commercial property strategies.