Welcome to your weekly round-up of residential stories on EG.
PGIM Real Estate has agreed a partnership to develop a portfolio of build-to-rent sites.
The end-to-end joint venture with Osborne Developments will see the pair source, develop and operate projects in the south of England. The jv aims to deploy £250m, with PGIM Real Estate contributing capital from the recently closed $1.1bn (£830m) fund European Value Partners II.
The deal follows a surge in residential investment from PGIM Real Estate, which has seen the fund manager’s portfolio increase to more than 1,000 homes in just over a year. Charles Crowe, head of UK transactions at PGIM Real Estate, said: “Mobility is valued more than ever, and the most recent generation is renting much more than in the past, driving the need for the development of modern, first-rate affordable living spaces.”
In another shift in residential strategy this week, after two decades First Base has decided to split the team and portfolio to create two separate companies.
Former chief executive Barry Jessup will lead Socius Development as managing director. Socius will take forward a £1bn pipeline of schemes in Milton Keynes, Bristol, Brighton and Cambridge. The mixed-use, urban regeneration developer will seek to expand its pipeline of projects in London and major towns and cities.
Chairman Elliot Lipton will continue to lead First Base as managing director, focusing on public-private partnerships, investments and affordable housing via subsidiary First Affordable.
Finally, retirement developer Pegasus is also seeking an unlikely shift in strategy. After failing to sell a single home at its central London Chimes scheme the developer has secured approval to open up the luxury housing to all ages. Pegasus’s flats start at £1.65m and the struggles follow a rocky year for sales, which had seen the developer turn to a number of refinances amid ongoing losses.
View the magazine, download the app (iOS and Android) and read on for more of the week’s headlines:
RICS insists on fire forms, despite government u-turn
TfL funding row threatens major housing projects
Edmond de Rothschild enters Scotland BTR
Man GPM secures Milton Keynes schemes
Hill Group increases sustainability-linked loan to £220m
BlueRock and BGO join forces in €200m BTR strategy
LaSalle disposes of £55m BTR portfolio
Galliard chief to move to rival housebuilder
Civitas weighs ‘all measures to restore confidence’
Fiera Infrastructure launches social housing platform
Masterplan emerges around new Cardiff Arena
Plans in for Staines’ Debenhams resi
York approves £100m Rowntree factory regen
Buoyant Berkeley raises earnings expectations by 5%
Redfern to hand over reins at Taylor Wimpey
Ara completes InfraRed purchase
Countryside taps Wates for partnerships director
Watchdog clears £970m GCP Student Living sale
