Midlands developer SevenCapital has hired a former divisional chairman from Berkeley Group to spearhead its expansion into London.
Angus Michie worked at Berkeley Group for almost 25 years and founded its St Edward joint venture with M&G Real Estate and the St Joseph brand in the West Midlands.
He joins SevenCapital this month as managing director, following the departure of former managing director Phil Carlin last year.
Based in the London office, Michie is recruiting a team and is on the hunt for acquisitions. The developer is eyeing purchases in zone two and outer boroughs with good transport connections. The ideal schemes will have an end value of around £250m.
Michie told EG: “We think there is opportunity in London. We are not delivering anywhere near the number of homes we should be.
“We are out, we’re in the market and we are keen to make our first acquisitions. We’d like to try over the next year to acquire between three and five sites and beyond that it is about creating a sustainable business.”
SevenCapital was established in Birmingham in 2009. The group has delivered more than 7,000 homes and last year revealed plans for significant expansion with new business divisions dedicated to build-to-rent and housing development.
So far, most of its residential development has been focused in Birmingham and London commuter towns, with notable schemes in Bracknell and Slough. Expansion into central London supports plans to boost the number of homes delivered each year from 1,200 to 8,000.
“We will look at everything – we are an opportunity-led organisation. We wouldn’t say no to anything, but I think it’s more likely it will be schemes where we secure the planning,” said Michie.
“There do appear to have been quite a few relatively high-profile exits from the housebuilders and some of the old guard. We think there is definitely room for another entrant in the market.”
After drifting to Greater London, some of the biggest developers have slowed new site purchases or announced their departure from the capital. Most recently, Redrow Homes stepped away from the £400m Alton Estate regeneration, opting for a regional refocus following frustrations with the planning system.
But with decades of experience bringing unconsented sites through planning in London, Michie is not put off. Rather he sees fresh opportunity after the pandemic.
“There are likely to be more opportunities across change of use,” he said. “Retail is an obvious one. It was happening long before this current crisis, it has just sped it up.”
Michie added: “The fundamentals are that there is still significant demand, even perhaps increased demand, for residential property as people reconsider their priorities. We’ve got historically low interest rates and we are not delivering very much. I think those fundamentals outweigh almost anything else.”
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