Kettel hunts £150m for rent-to-own strategy

Rent-to-own housing provider Kettel Homes is looking to raise its first fund of up to £150m to build a single-family residential strategy. Through its Kettel Investment Management arm, the group has a long-term goal to raise between £1bn and £2bn with the ambition to deliver 10,000 homes a year. The plans will be led by Lars Kreutzmann, former head of private real estate Europe at Partners Group, who has been appointed as a partner at Kettel, and will initially focus on two- to four-bedroom houses.  Kettel’s rent-to-own strategy seeks to help first-time buyers onto the housing ladder by creating what it believes is a more affordable route to home ownership. Any purchaser of a Kettel home puts down an initial 2-5% deposit and then pays rent for up to 36 months, with Kettel helping the buyer build their savings to the more traditional 10% required for a standard mortgage. Any Kettel tenant that chooses not to remain in the property after 36 months has their 2% deposit returned, minus a fee, while those who stay on flip to a more standard mortgage arrangement. Kreutzmann said: “I joined the team to launch the Kettel rent-to-own strategy as I saw how the Kettel platform provides a unique opportunity at a time when there is a huge demand for home ownership, a commitment from the government to build 1.5m new homes, an improving financial landscape and a growing appetite for UK single-family housing.” Trevor Stunden, chief executive at Kettel Homes, said the business existed to “solve the home ownership crisis, level the playing field and help the ‘squeezed middle’ and key workers”.