Barchester Healthcare’s £5.2bn (€5.9bn) portfolio sale to Welltower Inc this week is the latest in a string of healthcare property transactions which have pushed the market to record highs across the UK and Europe this year.
The sale by Barchester Healthcare - one of the largest care home operators in the UK, with over 14,440 beds – encompasses a portfolio comprised of 111 communities, 152 triple-net leased communities, and 21 ongoing developments.
Shankh Mitra, Welltower CEO, said: “We are excited to expand our presence in the UK and continue to partner with the highest quality operators.”
Julian Evans, partner and global head of healthcare at Knight Frank, which advised on the deal, said: “The UK is a key destination for international capital and the care home and senior living market offers attractive returns, underpinned by demographics and existing undersupply.”
Also this week, Oaknorth provided a £87.6m loan for two later living schemes in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, and Tunbridge Wells, Kent and Triodos Bank funded two care homes in Leeds and Bridlington while Octopus Capital raised nearly £60m for its Octopus Healthcare Fund, with the majority of the investment comes from LGPS Central, the investment manager for several UK public sector pension funds, and Knight Frank Investment Management. On the continent, Healthcare Activos and Kryalos Sgr both completed care home portfolio acquisitions.
The UK market is on track to complete a record £12bn of healthcare property transactions in 2025, according to the latest forecast by property adviser Knight Frank. This figure is more than treble the long-term yearly average, driven by a significant uptick in appetite for exposure to the healthcare real estate sector from cross-border family offices, insurance firms and real estate investment trust investors who are attracted to the sector’s countercyclical characteristics amid an increasingly uncertain market environment.
Looking forward, Primary Health Properties’ £1.8bn deal for Assura is likely to be one of the most notable deals in the fourth quarter of the year, creating a portfolio valued at £6bn.
US capital has accounted for a high proportion of UK transaction volumes in recent years, and in 2025 several US players including Welltower have taken opportunities to consolidate and scale newly acquired operating platforms.
Ryan Richards, Associate at Knight Frank, said: “2025’s record UK healthcare property deal volume has been fuelled by a high volume of consolidation and M&A in the sector, with established domestic operators and international investors each seeking to capitalise on the efficiency gains available from whole-platform deals.”
| Recently completed deals | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Asset type | Location | Buyer | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Key facts |
| Barchester Healthcare portfolio | living | UK | Welltower Inc | Barchester Healthcare | 14,440beds | £5200 (€5900) | Barchester Healthcare is the largest care home operator in the UK, with over 14,440 beds and more than 240 care homes. |
| convenience-led retail park portfolio | retail | Poland | Ares Real Estate and Slate AM | Trei Real Estate | 36 assets | €300 | The 36 recently developed and fully occupied retail parks are located across major Polish metropolitan areas near large catchment populations. |
| 1 Newman Street | mixed | London | RLAM | Great Portland Estates | 121,300sqft | £250 (€284) | The sale of the fully-let, multi-let asset on the northern side of Oxford Street reflected a net initial yield of 4.48%. |
| 22-24 Southwark Bridge Road | office | London | Latium Enterprises | Landsec | 89,000sqft | £200 (€227) | Landsec gained consent earlier this year for an office redevelopment that proposed 141,459sqft and 205,397sqft of offices. |
| Park House, 16 Finsbury Circus | office | London | Enka | DWS | 23,401sqft | £186 (€213.2) | Originally built in the 1920s and redeveloped in 2008, Park House is a landmark office fronting Finsbury Circus. |
| seven care properties | living | France, Italy, Portugal and Spain | Healthcare Activos | NA | 7assets | €150+ | The company entered the German market last year. |
| office building | office | Paris | Gecina | NA | 15,000m2 | €135 | The asset generates €8.9m of annual rent with an average lease maturity of nearly eight years. |
| resi portfolio | living | Oslo | Zetland Capital | Erla Eiendom | NA | €107 (DKK800) | Arctic Securities advised on the deal. |
| Libero Katowice | retail | Katowice, Poland | Summus Capital | Echo Investment | 45,000m2 | €103 | Completed in 2018 the shopping centre is almost 100% leased. |
| life science asset | alternative | Gräfelfing, Munich | AEW | Aventin Real Estate | 10,900m2 | €70 | AEW’s Eurocore fund has made its debut investment in the German life sciences market, with the acquisition of the fully-le asset. |
| portfolio of five assets | mixed | Sweden | Genova | Landia | 16,163m2 | €58 (SEK634) | The five properties are in the Stockholm region; Laboratoriet 1 in Solna, Berga 11:49 in Österåker, Marö 5 and Ribe 170 in Stockholm and Nor 1:5 in Knivsta. |
| Radisson Blu | hotel | Marseille | Invesco’s European Hotel Fund | Union Investment | 189rooms | €43.5 | The property had been held in one of Union Investment’s open-ended real estate funds for 20 years. |
| portfolio of two assets | retail | Arvika & Mariestad, Sweden | Prisma Properties | Kynningsrud | 12,000m2 | €32 (SEK345) | The properties are fully leased to Ica Sverige AB under 15-year lease agreements. |
| Seminaari School property | alternative | Hämeenlinna, Finland | Hemsö | CapMan Real Estate | NA | NA | The Seminaari School is the largest primary school in Hämeenlinna, accommodating approximately 700 pupils. |
| 7 nursing homes | living | Italy | Kryalos sgr | NA | 47,300m2 | NA | The acquisitions were made on behalf of Euryale Healthcare Italia 1 and 2. |
| Bergener Straße 9 logistics asset | logistics | Bremen, Germany | LIP Invest | Peper & Söhne | 31,000m2 | NA | Sparkasse Bremen AG financed both the project development and the purchase. |
| 25% stake in the St James Quarter | mixed | Edinburgh | Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield | Nuveen Real Estate | 80,300m2 | NA | The St James Quarter is a mixed-use development featuring 110 retail, leisure and dining units. It also includes 152 premium apartments, with 81 of the built-to-sell units already sold. |
| 73 luxury properties in Solana de Valdebebas | living | Madrid | Invesco Real Estate | Santander Wealth | 13,000m2 | NA | The asset is set to complete by Q2 2028. |
| BTR development | living | Maidenhead, England | Starlight | Countryside Properties | 255homes | NA | The operator has taken its UK rental portfolio to 4,000 homes with the purchase of the scheme. |
| logistics asset | logistics | Mantova, Italy | Savills IM SGR | Barings | 37,500m2 | NA | Construction of the warehouse started in Q1 2024 and was completed in May 2025. |
| car park | alternative | Zollhafen Mainz, Germany | Contipark Group | CA Immo | 399spaces | NA | The car park was built by CA Immo in 2020 as part of the neighbourhood development. |
| Assets on the market | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Asset type | Location | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Broker | Key facts |
| Battersea Power Station | mixed | London | Permodalan Nasional Berhad and Employees’ Provident Fund | 920,000sqft | £2000 (€2270) | BNP Paribas | The owners are exploring options after receiving approaches and there is not guarantee that they will sell. |
| Stirling Square | office | London | Greycoat, Tristan Capital Partners | 93,500sqft | £227.5 (€258) | Savills, Newmark | The asset has been fully occupied since its completion in 1999. |
| 72 Welbeck Street | mixed | London | Berkeley Estate Asset Management | 113,768sqft | £165 (€187) | RX London and JLL | Following an office refurbishment in 2022 the all-electric building has a weighted average unexpired lease term of 8 years to expiries. |
| Monks Cross shopping park | retail | York | Legal & General Investment Management, USS and Gingko Tree Investment | 270,000sqft | £75 (€85) | NA | The retail park has 38 units. |
| Junction One retail park | retail | Rugby; UK | Invesco | 204,000sqft | £39.5 (€45) | CBRE | The price for the 19-unit scheme reflects a net initial yield of 7.25%. |
| 13 and 14 South Audley Street | mixed | London | Private family office | 15,993sqft | £35 (€40) | Savills and Wetherell | The assets have potential for a residential and commercial refurbishment valued at up to £65m. |
| Telford Bridge Retail Park | retail | Shropshire, UK | Unnamed Middle Eastern investment group | 195,529sqft | £30.7 (€35) | CBRE | The quoting price reflects a net initial yield of 7.75%. |
| The Dacre, 19 Dacre Street | office | London | CIFI | 24,162sqft | £29 (€33) | Michael Elliott | The sale reflects a yield of 6.42%. |
| The Radiant BTR development | living | Leeds | Starlight | 111homes | £27 (€31) | JLL | The nine-storey development on 84 Kirkstall Road comprises one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. |
| Burleigh House at 355–359 Strand London | mixed | London | L&G | 20,527sqft | £26.5 (€30) | Knight Frank | The guide price reflects a net initial yield of 6%. |
| portfolio including Nos 2 and 37 Dawson Street | mixed | Dublin | Irwin Druker | NA | €24 | Savills | The landlord owns a range of buildings in Dublin city centre and the suburbs through the entity Regal Estates. |
| Recently completed loans | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lender(s) | Borrower(s) | Asset(s) | Loan Size (mln) | Key facts |
| Bond investors | VIA Outlets | Unsecured | €500 | The company has placed a seven-year unsecured green bond with 3.5% fixed coupon. |
| Bond investors | IGD Siiq | Unsecured | €300 | The five-year bond has a coupon of 4.45%. |
| Pollen Street | MCR Property | Company portfolio | £250 (€284) | The revolving senior secured credit facility will support MCR’s next phase of UK acquisitions and development. |
| Banco Santander and ING | AtlasEdge | Lisbon campus | €253 | The 7-year senior secured Term Bond facility is divided into two tranches. |
| Oaknorth | Elysian | two later living schemes in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, and Tunbridge Wells, Kent | £87.6 (€100) | The schemes are part of a joint venture between Elysian and Octopus Capital & Schroders Capital’s UK Retirement living Fund. |
| Nuveen Real Estate | Signal Capital Partners and Eurofund Group joint venture | Parma Promenade in Italy | €67.5 | The senior secured financing was provided through a real estate securitization structure, and will support the capex and repositioning project of the shopping resort scheduled to open next summer. |
| Investec | Hillwood | Quattro Raunds industrial asset in the UK | £27.7 (€31) | The scheme will speculatively deliver four best-in-class industrial units. |
| QuadReal Property | Fiera Real Estate and Harleyford Capital | logistics space at Watford Works, London | £25.5m (€29.2) | The debt facility will finance the logistics space at Watford Works, London, a project expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2026. |
| Triodos Bank | Fisher Care Group | two care homes in Leeds and Bridlington | £21 (€24) | The loan will fund the purchase and development of the two schemes. |
| J&T BANKA and QI Investiční společnost | Courbet Heritage | The Mozart Prague | €24 | The loan refinances the hotel’s senior debt to support its continued operation and strategic development. |
| New mandates/JVs and funds on the market | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Firm | Fund/mandate/JV | Strategy | Details |
| Octopus Capital | Octopus Healthcare fund | Investing in the UK healthcare sector | The fund raised nearly £60m, the majority of the investment comes from LGPS Central, the investment manager for several UK public sector pension funds, and Knight Frank Investment Management. |
