Matter Real Estate has secured a £150m loan to refinance single-family rental developer Placefirst.
The value-add investor has signed off a five-year debt facility, which has been provided by a strategic lending partner, to help Placefirst reach a total of 6,500 single-family rental homes across the UK.
Matter chief executive David Christie said: “It’s been a record year for growth in our portfolio, and we look forward to continuing to work with Placefirst to support its ambitious growth plans as part of our ongoing commitment to developing high-quality, attainable real estate.”
The loan is secured against more than 1,000 high-quality stabilised SFR flats across 11 different schemes, including Elevate in Manchester, the Welsh Streets in Liverpool and Skye Edge in Sheffield.
Matter first backed Placefirst in 2016 and partnered with the management team to provide funding and the expertise required to achieve scale. Since then the portfolio has grown to 1,500 homes.
The team is currently reviewing opportunities for 11,000 homes across the country and work is progressing at various sites.
Christie added that “single-family rental investing is one of those rare examples where financial and social value creation can go hand in hand”.
There is currently an annual housing shortfall of around 1.2m homes in the UK, with much of the demand coming from outside large cities such as London.
“Single-family rental, be it attainable or affordable housing, can play an important role in solving this problem,” Christie said. “And that is why Matter will continue to build and back companies such as Placefirst, creating scaled, institutional-quality platforms that can provide high-quality places to live across the UK.”
Matter has also strengthened its team with two additional new hires, with Rob McHugh joining as vice-president and Kamran Malik as an associate.
To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews
