Leicester has launched a 250-unit private rented sector development plan, becoming the latest in a string of East Midlands locations to announce its ambition to expand PRS in the city.
Buoyed by this summer’s approval of its local development plan, Leicester city council wants a PRS element within the 500 homes proposed for the first phase of its Waterside regeneration project, which is on a 13-acre former industrial site north-west of the city centre, opposite Hammerson’s Highcross shopping centre. The scheme includes parts of the River Soar and the Grand Union Canal.
“PRS is the right fit here,” says the council’s Waterside project manager, David Beale. “It will unlock substantial future housing for the site and it has the appropriate demographic to fulfil our plans to create an aspirational, young and professional neighbourhood.”
Leicester council is now soft-launching Waterside by having early-stage discussions with interested funds.
Beale says these would-be investors have contacted him, rather than the other way round, and are seeking PRS prospects across the city, not just at this scheme.
“They all have the same approach,” he says. “London’s too competitive for PRS now and set-up costs are pretty high, with more risk. Leicester looks like a more interesting prospect.”
Leading the PRS charge in the region, however, is Nottingham, where construction on 350 units from Godwin Developments will start in January – the city’s first PRS scheme to break ground.
Godwin director Stephen Pratt says the 1.75-acre Hicking Pentecost site, formerly a bleach and dying factory, was selected because of its appropriateness for high-density construction and its location as a “gateway” near, but not in, the city centre.
“If you compare rents between Birmingham and Nottingham, say, there’s not a big difference. But site prices are very different and it’s those lower site values that make the East Midlands a sound bet for PRS,” says Pratt, whose firm is also looking at locations in Leicester, Derby and Coventry – although no firm deals have yet been signed.
“We are talking to about 12 funds on the subject of PRS and they are coming to us, more than the other way around. That’s a sign that the region is considered a good investment,” he says.
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