Dandara appoints Rothschild for £400m PRS sale

UK developer Dandara has appointed Rothschild to sell its £400m regional PRS portfolio of more than 2,000 homes. The portfolio includes Dandara’s Manchester site at Chapel Wharf, which has 995 apartments, Birmingham’s Arena Central (which has 324 flats, downsized from original plans to build 706 apartments in 2014) and the Leodis Square development in Leeds, which comprises 742 flats. The sale will also include an option for additional sites in Glasgow and Aberdeen later. These could take the portfolio for sale to around 3,300 homes. Dandara has one PRS site in Aberdeen, Forbes Place, and two in Glasgow at City Wharf and Glasgow Harbour’s GH20 site. After completion, Dandara Living is seeking to manage the letting and management of the sites. Buyers submitted their bids for the portfolio last week and it is expected that a deal will be finalised by the end of the year. In 2016, Dandara received £45m from the Homes and Communities Agency’s Home Building Fund, with additional funds from HSBC to support the construction of the three schemes in Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds. Construction of the three schemes began in January 2017, due for completion by Spring next year. The Glasgow schemes have yet to begin construction and Aberdeen completed in 2016. Rothschild declined to comment. Dandara was approached for comment. The sale comes as BTR investments continue to climb in the UK: Knight Frank estimated the sector to be worth £25bn in 2017, projected to increase to £70bn by 2022. However, regional portfolios have been notoriously tougher, with high-quality stock often priced at a premium, posing risk to lenders and movement into new territories where there is little data or comparable projects. To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @estatesgazette