Invesco has completed a £98M forward-funding deal as it expands its Birmingham BTR portfolio.

Invesco Real Estate is now backing the High Street Residential project to deliver 484 build-to-rent apartments in a 17-storey block at Holloway Head at the junctions of Bulcher Street, Ellis Street and Gough Street.

Construction will begin later this year on the site, which is currently occupied by a car park and a Girl Guides HQ.

This is Invesco's 12th investment in the UK residential sector, taking the total assets under management to £650M, covering 2,279 units. The Birmingham investment follows deals in London, Liverpool and Manchester.

The scheme has been through a number of hands before reaching this week's funding deal.

Last September, Panther Securities sold the site to Holloway Investments in an £11M deal brokered by Court Collaboration, Estates Gazette reported. The new owner was a joint venture between High Street Group and Birmingham-based developer Taylor Grange.

High Street Group will lead the development of the scheme, which has an end value of £120M, with construction expected to begin later this year.

BTR is growing rapidly in Birmingham, but from a small base. The total pipeline is around 6,000 units, and there are barely a dozen BTR schemes in progress in Birmingham, amounting to 2,000 units. This is a tiny fraction of a tiny market which, in the UK regions, has so far delivered only 15,000 units (according to British Property Federation data). A further 20,000 units are under construction outside the capital with another 33,000 in planning.