The Cheyne Social Property Impact Fund, seeded by investors including Big Society Capital, has a capacity to take in 300 million pounds ($473.04 million) and will seek to eke out stable and inflation-linked gains by leasing out the properties.

A cut in government grants to the sector is allowing private investors such as hedge funds to fill the gap, as demand for social housing rises.

The number of households on local authority housing waiting lists in Britain swelled by nearly 55 percent to 1.7 million in the decade to 2013, according to government data.

"This fund combines the merits of providing a social good and a financial return," Stuart Fiertz, president of Cheyne Capital, said in an emailed statement.

The fund boosts Cheyne Capital's 1.6 billion pounds of assets in its real estate funds. Shamez Alibhai, a former Credit Suisse executive who joined Cheyne in 2006 and co-ran its real estate debt business, will manage the fund.

(Reporting by Nishant Kumar; editing by Carolyn Cohn)