The pledges include €100 mln from a large Dutch pension fund and €25 mln from a leading German fund manager, bringing its total capital commitments to €235 mln.

Michael Fink, managing director, CRIM, said: 'Demand for affordable and highly sustainable rental housing will be greater than ever after the Covid-19 crisis passes and we continue to see very strong interest from both German and international investors for our cash flow-focused residential investment vehicles.

'Residential assets are already proving to be the most defensive and resilient among property sectors as the European economic recession deepens. We anticipate that we will be able to announce further new investors alongside our new Dutch and German clients in the near future.'

Fund managers said that the latest sums bring the affordable-housing fund closer to its mid-term target of €1 bn in assets under management. Eventually, Catella plans to establish a multi-billion open-ended investment vehicle across European residential real estate markets. The vehicle also integrates sustainability principles during the investment process.

The double signing follows a first close in May 2019, when CRIM’s €1.5 bn maiden pan-European residential fund opened to international investors. CRIM also manages the €900 mln Catella Wohnen Europa Fund, open to German investors in a comparable strategy.

CER III now has four institutional investors across Europe after attracting its first commitment from outside Germany in October last year with €40 mln from France’s Primonial REIM. The initial launch was seeded by a €50 mln commitment from a German pension plan, which subsequently made a top-up of €20 mln.

Casper van Grieken, head of equity placement at CBRE Netherlands, the placement agent for CER III, said: 'Amid the huge uncertainties stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, Catella has succeeded in adding two more heavyweight investors to its stable.

'It is quite a feat to secure transactions in the current environment and this achievement is clearly an endorsement of the quality and track record of Catella’s residential platform and strong ability to source attractive investments across Europe.'