Alternative lender Investec Structured Property Finance has signed its biggest-ever loan for the UK private rented sector (PRS), providing developer Southdawn with two senior debt facilities totalling £61 mln (€67 mln) to develop two new schemes in the south of England.
Southdawn, the development arm of PRS operator and developer Rooms & Studios, will acquire and develop projects in Crawley, Sussex and Sudbury, West London totalling around 400 units.
'As the Private Rented Sector starts to make a significant contribution to solving the housing shortage in London and the South East, we anticipate future opportunities to fund similar schemes, providing a credible and established client like Rooms & Studios, with whom we have a long standing track record, with flexible acquisition and development financing,' commented Hayley Scott at Investec Structured Property Finance.
Investec has provided £43 mln (€47 mln) for the acquisition and first phase development of a vacant office block and adjoining 7.9 acres of land, known as Kellogg Tower, in Greenford, Sudbury. Phase 1 comprises 270 units and 100 car parking spaces. Phase 2 will follow in due course.
At Crawley, Investec has provided a £18 mln (€20 mln) facility for the acquisition and redevelopment of a vacant office property into 129 residential units over four storeys. Rooms & Studios is also considering submission of a planning application for additional units.
'These two development sites further complement our existing portfolio of high-quality and well-located Private Rented Sector schemes in and around London,' said Cyril Ogunmakin, CEO of Rooms & Studios. 'The Investec team has a wealth of experience financing complex residential transactions and, as always, were flexible and commercial in their approach, and we look forward to maintaining this strong relationship as we develop our pipeline of projects.'
