Grainger is on the hunt for stabilised build-to-rent portfolios that it can buy from rival operators.
The listed landlord said it is the “natural consolidator” for competitors recycling capital by selling older generation BTR stock.
However, chief executive Helen Gordon said that the market for acquiring operational stock is more difficult than anticipated.
She said: “I always assumed that by year five [of owning/operating a BTR asset], people that have entered the market would probably find it more challenging to manage them and that there would be more churn.
“In fact, what’s happened is residential has been one of the best performing parts of people’s portfolio, and so they have held onto them.”
Gordon added that Grainger’s competitors have an average BTR portfolio of 525 homes, compared to the listed residential giant’s 11,000 home portfolio.
But the landlord is not looking to acquire rivals outright, Gordon added. “There are very few companies that have a natural fit with Grainger. And as a company we already have a platform, so we do not see economies of scale of bringing corporates together. We do everything ourselves and do it in-house.”
Gordon added that repositioning assets is one of Grainger’s strengths, and the company is looking to acquire further value-add product to refurbish.
The landlord is also looking to buy land for ground-up developments and forward funding transactions in cities such as Newcastle, Cambridge, Derby and Nottingham.
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