Greystar boss Bob Faith has said the company will expand further into the UK, after sealing the deal to buy Student Roost for £3.3bn.
The US developer shrugged off worries about Britain’s economy, saying that further investment in the UK was justified by “supply and demand imbalances” for rental property.
Faith said: “When you’re a long-term investor, those kind of overpower [other] things.”
Greystar already had a substantial portfolio of rental housing when it teamed up with Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC to buy Student Roost.
Other prospective buyers for Student Roost, which manages more than 23,000 student beds across the UK, were deterred because of the uncertain economic outlook – particularly rising borrowing costs – according to people with knowledge of the process.
Faith acknowledged that building costs had increased faster than general inflation in the markets where Greystar operates and were up “10%-plus easily”. Those additional costs would “come out in rents” for the more than 750,000 rental properties and student beds the company manages around the world, he added.
However, Faith insisted now was a good time to buy because demand from students and institutional investors was only likely to strengthen.
