Welcome to your weekly round-up of residential stories from EG.
Build-to-rent specialist Amro Partners is on track to build a £1bn portfolio by 2030 following new acquisitions in Spain and Portugal and a push in the UK’s co-living sector.
Co-founder and managing director Raj Kotecha (pictured) told EG that Amro is expanding in Iberia as a launchpad to further growth on the continent as part of a BTR, student and co-living strategy. The developer this week lodged plans for its first co-living scheme, a 200-bed project in Kingston, Surrey.
Meanwhile in Ealing, modular developer Tide Construction is also pursuing co-living, working with HTA Design. Tide has lodged plans for a 462-bed scheme at the Castle Pub site near North Acton tube station, replacing earlier proposals for a 595-bed student development.
This week’s long read dives into Lloyds’ new PRS business Citra Housing, as managing director Andy Hutchinson unveils the fresh thinking behind the new business launch.
And in the EG Interview, Lord Bob Kerslake calls on the government to put real estate at the heart of the UK’s economic recovery. Kerslake has had a career in local and central government, with a stint leading the Homes and Communities Agency (now Homes England). He is chair of housing association Peabody and the Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation. Kerslake emphasised the role of the public sector in development.
The timing couldn’t be more appropriate, as Transport for London publishes plans for up to 46,350 homes via its commercial property business Transport Trading Limited Properties. While the business currently expects to develop 13,000 homes, it adds that funding of £2bn could triple the output.
Back to Homes England, the government’s housebuilding agency this week launched a hunt for housing experts to join its strategic board. Homes England is hoping for three NEDs to drive the agency amid an upheaval in leadership.
This week, The Times reported another familiar political face making moves in property, as Philip Hammond joins forces with Sir Lynton Crosby to “acquire, refurbish and lease” residential property to local authorities. Crosby has set up Municipal Partners with CT Group colleague Gavin Stollar. Read more about the pair in this interview from CT HQ last year.
And, if you’re craving more multimedia content from Tim Burke after last week’s trip to Bristol, fear not. This week EG’s deputy editor is on-site in Leeds and gets to see some of the new resi offering at Scarborough Group’s Thorpe Park scheme. For more on that project as well as the outlook for the city’s retail and office markets, click here to watch the video.
View the magazine, download the app (iOS and Android ), and read on for more of the week’s headlines.
- COMMENT New building safety regime moves a step closer
- COMMENT Walking the talk: lessons of the 15-minute city
- Telford takes stake in £180m Capital Interchange Way
- L&G’s BTR Fund secures £265m to shift from development to investment
- Realstar inks £42m loan for Uncle Southall
- Blackstone spends $5.1bn on US affordable housing
- Hadley scores unanimous approval for 900-home Blackwall Yard
- Montreaux secures consent for Iford Retail Park to resi
- Westminster approves council-led care home scheme
- Peabody revises plans for Holloway Prison
- Inland submits plans for more Dagenham flats
- Eco homes backed by Reuben brothers get green light
- Government delays plan to decarbonise heating systems
- Ireland scraps fast-track planning for housing schemes
- Resi rents outside London average £1,000 for first time
- Maven invests in Darlington
- PRS REIT on track to hit 5,200 home target
- Triple Point bags 10 social housing sites
- Regional sells Leeds student site for £10.65m
- Vistry’s rising revenues are exception not rule
- Barratt looks to beat profit predictions
To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@eg.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @EGPropertyNews
