Moorfield Group’s fourth real estate fund has invested £20m (€22.3m) to buy a 77 show home portfolio in from UK housebuilder Avant Homes.
The manager said the Moorfield Real Estate Fund IV (MREF IV) fund has acquired the 93,000sqft portfolio of two, three, four and five-bedroom detached and semi-detached show homes, leased back to Avant Homes on an average three-year term.
Moorfield Group and Avant Homes have previously worked together, with the former acquiring the developer’s Edinburgh city centre £750m mixed-use Quartermile scheme in 2013 for an undisclosed sum.
Charles Ferguson-Davie, CIO of Moorfield Group, said: “Despite the volatility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we remain convinced that the residential sector will continue to be a resilient asset class, providing ongoing opportunities to generate outperformance on behalf of our investors.
“We have pioneered investment into a range of residential use classes and this innovative transaction provides our investors with further diversification.”
Ross Netherway, head of origination at Moorfield Group, said: “Through this investment, we are cementing our relationship with one of the UK’s most dynamic and ambitious housebuilders.
“It is the first of what we hope will be a number of similar investments, assisting housebuilders that are seeking alternative ways to accelerate the delivery of new housing for sale and for rent across the UK.”
Avant Homes CIO, Mark Mitchell, said: “COVID-19 has presented the housebuilding industry with many challenges, which we have responded to dynamically, with the safety and wellbeing of our people as our first priority.
“Looking ahead, we remain committed to continuing to execute against our growth strategy, underpinned by the resilience and agility of our business, the excellence of our product and the commitment of our people.
To read the digital edition of the latest IPE Real Assets magazine click here.
