LaSalle Investment Management is investing £110m (€131.9m) in a Manchester private rented sector asset.

The investment manager is buying the 497 build-to-rent scheme from developer Renaker Build.

The Greengate scheme in Salford includes one to three-bedroom units.

A first phase of 229 apartments is complete, with a second block of 268 units to follow in December. 

Andrew Stanford, ‎UK residential fund manager at LaSallesaid: “Access to large-scale PRS opportunities in strong markets are becoming highly sought after.

“Renting is the predominant tenure for city living, and the depth of the tenant market is one of the reasons Manchester and Salford rank so highly in our multi-factor PRS model.

“Given the quality and location of our scheme, we intend to follow our model of creating a strong local brand that will position it as Manchester’s premier PRS scheme.”

Stanford said that, since July last year, the firm has exchanged or completed on £325m of build-to-rent transactions, or 1,600 homes.

The investment manager last year raised £120m for its first UK PRS fund. 

It is aiming to invest more than £500m in the residential market for clients through the fund and other investment vehicles.

The company bought the first assets for its UK Private Residential Fund – in Leeds and London – in January this year.