Downing has sold five properties to Greystar Real Estate for £388m.
The properties include four student accommodation blocks: River Street Tower in Manchester, Holbrook and Pound Field in London and City Point in Coventry. Together they comprise 1,807 beds.
The rental housing investor also bought the 100-home City Club build-to-rent scheme in Coventry. Greystar plans to operate the development as housing for young professionals.
George Downing, founder of the eponymous group, said: “This announcement marks an exciting milestone for our business. With over £1bn worth of developments in the pipeline at sites across the UK, the agreement we have reached with Greystar will allow us to look for opportunities to grow our development programme further.”
Downing’s development pipeline is fully funded, but the proceeds of the sale will be used to buy further sites.
Ben Mowbray, senior director of UK investment at Greystar, said: “Our growth strategy in the UK is underpinned by strong, long-term market fundamentals. With the expectation that the UK’s 18-year-old population is set to grow by 2.1% per annum until 2030, Greystar is well positioned to capitalise on increasing demand for high-quality student accommodation. Meanwhile, we will be introducing young professional housing to our portfolio in the UK for the first time, which has been very successful in our other European markets.”
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