A joint venture has sold a London build-to-rent scheme for £126M as the rented residential investment sector continues its hot streak.

Specialist BTR investor and developer Ridgeback bought the 257-home Equipment Works project in Walthamstow, north-east London, from Greystar and Henderson Park, Green Street News reported. The building was completed in 2021 and is 98% leased.

Greystar and Henderson Park acquired the scheme from Telford Homes in a forward-funding deal for £106M in 2019, its third BTR development joint venture.

In March last year, the duo appointed Savills to sell Equipment Works and the 546-unit Ten Degrees apartment scheme for a combined £325M. The duo also owns the 894-apartment Bloom project in Nine Elms, south-east London, which Green Street said is valued at about £800M.

Ridgeback has amassed a portfolio of more than 4,000 UK BTR homes, undertaking several deals in a joint venture with the Canadian pension fund Alberta Investment Management Corporation.

The portfolio aggregation strategy began in the second quarter of 2020 with the acquisition of five properties, totalling more than 1,650 apartments under construction in Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and other cities.

The JV bought a portfolio of five assets totalling about 1,550 apartments at various stages of construction for £283M in 2022 — two in London, one in Birmingham, one in Cardiff and one in Sheffield. And in October 2024, it bought the 241-apartment Mitre Yard scheme in north-west London.

While many property sectors suffered in 2024, it was a record year for UK BTR investment, Knight Frank data shows. The £5.2B invested was up 11% on 2023, the first time annual investment in the sector surpassed £5B. Investors are betting rents will keep rising because of the imbalance between supply and demand.

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