The largest co-living operator in the US has agreed its first international deal, taking on 664 build-to-rent flats in London.
Common has agreed partnerships with investors London Green and SAV Group, and aims to grow its exposure to around 3,000 flats by 2023.
Common founder and chief executive Brad Hargreaves told EG: “We think the opportunity here in the UK is BTR and we think co-living is a really interesting and compelling sub-category of that.” He described co-living as “a type of unit within BTR that diversifies your BTR product and creates a lower rung on the ladder for people to get into a great building, that is highly-amenitised and in a great location”.
Though it has been a slow quarter for BTR deals, with just £465m in Q3, down 37% on Q2, according to EG Radius. However, the pipeline is growing, with deals coming from Federated Hermes’ Hestia, which has committed to forward funding Peel L&P’s second phase at Pomona Wharf. Fund director Will Gibby said the deal would bring Hestia’s investment “into something which is more institutional”. He said: “That scale gives us operational efficiency, which is a benefit to our customers and our stakeholders. It is ultimately a more appropriate liquid investment for our client and our customers.”
BTR could also be on the cards for new developer Future High Street Living. FHSL has bought the Debenhams in Staines and intends to build around 250 flats overlooking the river. The tenure is yet to be decided, however FHSL founder Sam Ginda has experience in BTR with a £500m BTR portfolio in the Midlands.
This week, the High Court stepped in and blocked the sale of the Parkwood Estate (pictured). Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum has been banned from buying the estate, thought to be the most expensive plot in Britain .
The sheikh, who is prime minister of the UAE, has been banned from buying or renting any property within 100m of his ex-wife’s home, effectively blocking his purchase of the 77-acre estate.
And finally, climate change campaigners opposed to the government’s expansion of permitted development rights have taken their legal challenge to the Court of Appeal.
Campaign group Rights: Community: Action – which calls itself a “coalition of campaigners, lawyers, planners, facilitators, writers and scientists, united by a shared commitment to tackle the climate emergency” – is seeking a judicial review of measures that the government has described as “the most radical reforms to our planning system since the Second World War”.
It alleged that the reforms had been pushed through without an adequate assessment of the environmental consequences and the equality impact, and aired its concerns that they will lead to the creation of “slum housing”.
View the magazine, download the app (iOS and Android) and read on for more of the week’s headlines:
James Brokenshire dies aged 53
New resi REIT puts the brakes on IPO plans
AHTO and Citi join forces in £1bn social housing spree
LISTEN Inside JLL’s rival to Airbnb
Lord Deben: Government must get tough on housebuilders to hit climate targets
Singapore Press Holdings looks for more student sites after profit boost
Watkin Jones outlines Edinburgh BTR plans
Ares and Generation Partners back £62m PBSA
Nido launched building management app
Resi leads as Irish investment market bounces back
Silbury loan paves way for £200m Berkhamsted retirement village
Galliard gets Investec loan for East Grinstead conversion
Mayor rubber-stamps Avanton’s Carpetright redev
HUB submits plans for 488-flat Leeds regen
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