Greystar Real Estate Partners is planning to raise £750m (€849m) for its first UK built-to-rent fund.

The manager has launched Greystar UK Multifamily Fund I (GSUM I) – the first in a flagship series of UK rental housing funds – to target develop purpose-built rental housing properties in London.

Bob Faith, founder and CEO of Greystar, said: “There’s a significant need for professionally developed rental housing in the UK as the current stock is under-supplied, outdated and poorly managed.

“The creation of this vehicle enables us to apply our market knowledge as well as our operational and development expertise to create an institutional-quality housing portfolio that appeals to a diverse base of renters.”

Mark Allnutt, Greystar’s senior managing director of investment management, UK, said: “Launching this vehicle represents an important milestone in further expanding our operations in the UK.

“We have established a strong track record of putting capital to work in UK rental housing and are currently evaluating a robust pipeline of investment opportunities as we work to further institutionalize the sector.”

Greystar entered the UK market in 2013 and has nearly £5bn assets under management in the UK.