Speaking to Estates Gazette at the newly unveiled Embassy Boulevard in Nine Elms, Moda Living’s Johnny Caddick shared insights on how the business is evolving to meet demand and respond to changing market dynamics.
He expects the company to expand its operational pipeline in 2026, from where it currently stands at a robust 5,000 homes, as the sector matures and investor appetite broadens. “The operation side’s growing quite a lot,” he said, “and I think next year we’ll jump up to 6,500.”.
Comfort and community
Moda Group is the UK’s leading build-to-rent specialist and Embassy Boulevard is its flagship London neighbourhood. Located just a stone’s throw from the iconic US Embassy building, the scheme will deliver 467 studios and one, two, and three-bedroom apartments, with 30 apartments allocated for key workers at discounted market rent.
“Embassy Boulevard is about creating a well-rounded living environment,” said Caddick. The scheme will feature 15,000 sq ft of amenities, including a golf simulator, karaoke room, roof terraces, co-working areas, resident lounges and a screening room.
Health and wellbeing are at the core of the offering, with three state-of-the-art fitness spaces, yoga and Pilates studios, and landscaped outdoor spaces.
Regarding the private rented sector (PRS), Caddick said: “When I first was talking about PRS, convincing one investor to back us was a challenge,” he said. “Now there’s multiple investors who are all looking to employ us in the sector, all looking for different things.”
This is translating into better outcomes for residents: “That’s great for customers because they’ll get more choice.”
London remains the sector’s biggest market, but Caddick pointed to the growing opportunities in regional cities. “There’s a huge pent-up demand,” he said of Edinburgh and Glasgow, “and we’re chomping at the bit, as soon as the political issues get resolved, to do more in those cities.”
Data from Moda’s amenity spaces is informing future projects. “We have sensors in our amenity spaces so we can see how the amenities are being used and then customer surveys and data points to define the next scheme.”
This data-led approach is allowing Moda to fine-tune how schemes are designed, including bringing down price points to boost viability. “What we’re trying to do now is make really efficient schemes,” he said. “For example, if the cinema has only been used certain nights of the week, how could that cinema space be transformed for daytime use?”
Co-living is also on Moda’s radar, with a focus on tailoring products: “We’re looking at more co-living. For us, when we’re looking at the opportunity, we just look at what is best in that location, whether it’s student or whether it’s built around co-living.”
Rising to the challenges
On single-family housing, he said Moda, alongside Caddick Group, has put together a strategy for growth.
“We have a number of sites that we’re bringing through with Caddick, which is our parent company,” he said. “We’ve got a pipeline and we’re just looking at where we bring that forward.”
He acknowledged that working with SME housebuilders has been a challenge, but also a necessity for delivering more homes: “It’s hard working with those smaller housebuilders because they do need the education,” he said, “but it’s interesting because when the market comes back — and it is coming back — they’re actually seeing it from a cashflow perspective. If they open up a site with multiple tenure, they keep the overheads down and it’s sufficient. So we think it’s here to stay.”
Caddick said affordability is one of the biggest challenges facing the sector: “It’s the challenge, and it’s where everything BTR is aiming, and I want it mid-market, mid-upper,” he said. “People are making it work, but you’ve got to be so careful about tweaking around the edges. You want to create something that is a good quality environment as well, without cheapening it.”
Moda also has AI in its sights, as a way to make improvements: “We can bring down operating costs and increase the customer satisfaction points of sale or points of response,” he said. “It’s going to be brilliant.”
In the long term, Caddick said the sector will continue to face cyclical challenges, but he remains optimistic about the opportunity ahead.
“You learn more from a challenging market than you do in any other market,” he said. “And taking that learning into the next cycle puts you in better shape.”
He concluded by underlining Moda’s core focus: “It’s all about listening to what people want, not just building and expecting people to follow. You do have to be listening.”
Image © Moda Living
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