UK developer Crest Nicolson has joined forces with M&G Real Estate to fund the construction of 114 private rental homes in south east England.
The agreement relates to Arborfield Green, a new garden village near the towns of Wokingham and Reading, in Berkshire county, where the two partners plan to provide a total of 200 build-to-rent units.
The M&G UK Residential Property Fund, managed by Alex Greaves, will finance the one and two-bedroom apartments, which will be ready for occupation in late 2019.
Arborfield Green is the third PRS partnership between Crest Nicholson and M&G Real Estate and marks over £100 mln of deals made under the investor/house builder arrangement established in 2015.
Previous deals with Crest include M&G Real Estate’s £51.5 mln purchase of 227 PRS units at Crest Nicholson’s Kilnwood Vale development, near Crawley in West Sussex.
Alex Greaves, head of residential investment at M&G Real Estate, commented: 'The Thames Valley region continues to attract significant investment including provision of offices for major global corporations. This is a high value area of the south east where young people, couples and families struggle to get on the housing ladder - there is a clear and ongoing need for good quality homes for those looking for flexibility and affordability outside of London.'
Chris Tinker, board director at Crest Nicholson, added: 'Purpose-designed PRS schemes are complementary to our open market and affordable housing offers, whilst working in partnership with M&G Real Estate will again help us to broaden our tenure base and create diverse communities. As home ownership falls to its lowest level for a quarter of a century, these high quality, professionally owned and managed schemes will also help to ease pressure on the rental market.'
