Thirty years after the completion of Canary Wharf’s landmark One Canada Square, the estate is preparing to add a cluster of new skyscrapers – this time, dedicated to build-to-rent flats.
During the pandemic, CWG scrapped a 1m sq ft office in favour of BTR in the central business district. Now, an area previously dedicated to private sale will also come forward as BTR – adding some 2,000 flats to the rental business Vertus’s pipeline.
CWG aims to diversify the portfolio, with mid-market rent and co-living, and even fresh finance with a funding partner. It already has more than 1,000 BTR flats on the 128-acre estate and strong lease-up performance has inspired further expansion.
Tenants forking out minimum rents of £2,000 a month include local professionals, international long-term visitors, corporates and, increasingly, students. While CWG seeks to pivot its offering, demand for student accommodation is soaring.
Following a bumper year for university intakes, university cities are under pressure to provide accommodation. The current PBSA offering will support just a fraction of the student population – EG analysis reveals that just two of the top universities have enough stock to house even half of their full-time students. In London that’s a shortfall of more than 200,000 beds.
Bath is set for a BTR and PBSA boost following the approval of 651 homes at Watkin Jones’s Lower Bristol Road scheme. Meanwhile, in Edinburgh, S1 Developments hopes to add 545 beds through the redevelopment and restoration of the former Tyneside High School.
Joseph Homes is gearing up for expansion in London and the South, with the appointment of Ross Stewart as head of land. Stewart previously led land at London Square and more recently Mackenzie Homes.
Following recruitment news last week, developer Real is racing ahead with new schemes. Real was launched earlier this year by former Wates managing director Paul Nicholls with the acquisition of Rydon’s regional businesses in London, the South East and South West. Now it is bringing forward the final phase of the £165m Green Man Lane Estate development in a joint venture with Ealing Council and housing association A2Dominion.
A2Dominion has seen new homes starts decline over the past year, with its surplus also taking a hit. Rival Notting Hill Genesis has also revealed a 30% drop in new homes. And they are not the only ones. New figures from the G15 show the number of new home starts from London’s largest housing associations plummeted to the lowest level on record during the pandemic, with 10,951 new homes, down by 30% on the previous year. Completions remain steady.
Perhaps they should take a note from for-profit provider Sage Housing. Blackstone’s affordable housing business delivered 2,142 new homes last year, up by 57% on the previous year. It now has 12,663 homes, including its secured development pipeline and says it is “well on track” to becoming the UK’s largest provider of affordable housing with a portfolio of 20,000 homes by 2022.
View the rest of the digital magazine, download the app (iOS and Android) and read on for more of the week’s headlines:
How to build a real estate brand? Ask the gods
Developers should hand over land to self-builders
Affordable housing providers seek net-zero carbon solutions in £2bn framework
Wokingham Council seeks partner for green housing
Edmond de Rothschild inks £50m Gateshead BTR deal
Audley secures £40m Homes England loan
Schroders and Civitas close £192m social housing fund
Triple Point raises £195m refinance
Target Healthcare takes aim at £100m equity raise
Eagle Street swoops on Castleforbes in €79m Dublin deal
Dublin development opportunities hit the block
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