The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has received 64 expressions of interest for its private rental sector initiative, aimed at attracting institutional investors to invest in the private rented sector for the first time. HCA said that the responses came from “household name” UK pension funds, property developers, fund managers and property managers. Along with its adviser DTZ, HCA is now evaluating the submissions and aims to encourage organisations to band together to make large-scale investment propositions. <br> <br> The responses will be evaluated according to deliverability and value for money as well as the organisation’s financial strength, ability to invest, track record in creating new investment funds and willingness to be flexible and innovative. Several of the submissions, HCA said, strongly met the HCA core brief as they concentrated on the investment and fund management sides of the initiative. Chief executive Sir Bob Kerslake commented: “We are still in the early stages of this initiative, but interest has been encouraging and shows the potential it has to ease some of the effects of the market downturn on developers and turn private rental into an option of choice for consumers in the future.”<br>