Morgan Stanley Acquires £1B L&Q PRS Business: The London Deal Sheet

The Deal Sheet is a weekly compilation of Greater London and beyond's biggest leases, sales, financing deals, construction updates and personnel moves. Have news you’d like to submit? Email mark.faithfull@bisnow.com. 

London & Quadrant Housing Trust has completed the sale of its private rented sector business to an investment fund managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, in partnership with Ridgeback, for £1.05B.

Metra Living owns and manages a portfolio of circa 3,200 homes within Greater London, and the sale includes the transfer of Metra Living’s operational platform and team and its £300M of external debt facilities.

The sale is part of L&Q’s long-term strategy focused on simplifying its organisation, prioritising social housing provision, the company said.

L&Q first announced it was seeking buyers for its PRS homes in November 2024, and the MSREI-Ridgeback partnership was chosen as L&Q’s preferred partner in June 2025. BNP Paribas and BNP Paribas Real Estate were appointed to advise L&Q on the sale.

“Metra Living is a high-quality, scaled platform in a supply-constrained London market, and we look forward to building on its strong foundation and supporting its continued growth,” MSREI Managing Director Shamik Narotam said in a statement. 

FINANCE

European investor Urban Partners has launched the Urban Partners Regeneration Fund together with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Viessmann Generations Group. The investment vehicle is backed by anchor institutional partners PensionDanmark and SamPension.

Targeting regeneration of brownfield sites into mixed-use neighbourhoods, the fund has held its first closing with an unlevered investment capacity of up to €650M (£563M), combining primary equity and co-investment capital.

The fund will focus on growth cities in the UK, the Nordics and Germany, with a pipeline in London, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Munich and Stockholm, and is designed to work with cities in public-private partnerships.

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Global real estate investment manager Cain has launched a London purpose-built student accommodation strategy targeting the delivery of 2,000 beds across the capital.

The first investment is a fully consented 353-bed development on the Greenwich Peninsula, an 18-storey tower to be delivered in partnership with RG Real Estate and scheduled for completion ahead of the 2029/2030 academic year.

The transaction follows the firm’s recent entry into Italy through a partnership with Global Student Accommodation as Cain continues to scale its platform across Europe, with ambitions to grow the platform to 10,000 beds over the next five years, the company said.

Cain’s PBSA platform represents approximately €1.2B in gross development value across approximately 4,000 beds in Bristol, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, alongside the recently announced joint venture with GSA in Rome.

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PGIM has advanced a £48M senior loan to the UK self-storage platform Space Station, refinancing and upsizing its existing debt facility.

Completed on behalf of PGIM’s real estate senior debt platform, the upsized facility provides Space Station with additional capital to pursue acquisitions, development opportunities and asset-level investment, the company said.

Space Station has grown from five owned assets to 17, while also adding third-party management contracts.

LEASING

Chiswick Park has signed up to 50K SF in new leases and lease extensions for the business park, with Japanese pharmaceutical company Chugai taking 5K SF in Building 4, where it will base its UK and European headquarters, and Chinese automotive company Omoda Jaecoo agreeing a lease for 10K SF in the same building.

Existing tenants have also agreed lease extensions, including London estate agency Foxtons, which will be relocating from Building 1 to take 21K SF in Building 12, and U.S.-based technology company Amdocs, which is extending its existing lease on the 8K SF it occupies in Building 4.

Chiswick Park is managed by Revantage Real Estate, the asset management platform established by Blackstone. Knight Frank and Cushman & Wakefield are the joint leasing agents.

DEVELOPMENT

Camden Council has granted planning permission for Camden Film Quarter, a £1B creative-led regeneration project that will combine 11 purpose-built soundstages, production and post-production facilities, creative workspace, specialist education, new homes including 50% affordable housing, public parks and community infrastructure.

The soundstages will be operated by Oxygen Studios, while the scheme will include 485 new homes, of which 243 will be affordable homes delivered in partnership with Places for People.

There will be more than 100K SF of creative, production and employment space, facilities for more than 500 students through the National Film and Television School and London Screen Academy and approximately 2.7 acres of publicly accessible open space.

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The King’s Cross Group, owner and manager of the 67-acre King’s Cross neighbourhood, has updated proposals for the St Pancras Hospital site as the next phase of public consultation gets underway.

Seven architecture and landscape practices — Bennetts Associates, Howells, AHMM, Maccreanor Lavington Architects, Ryder Architecture, Roots and Erect, and Gillespies — are working across different plots and areas.

The current consultation is seeking feedback on proposals for each plot as part of a wider master plan for the 3.2-acre site, which includes new homes, affordable housing, upgraded healthcare facilities, refurbished buildings and public spaces. A new commercial building forms part of a broader commercial offer that includes nearly 474K SF of workspace.

PEOPLE

Savills Investment Management CEO Alex Jeffrey is to step back from his day-to-day management responsibilities at the end of June, following a seven-year tenure. 

He will become senior adviser to Savills IM, focusing on senior client relationships and expansion initiatives and supporting the leadership transition to Michael Neal, who will become interim CEO from 1 July.

Neal is currently global chief investment officer for Savills IM and joined the business in January 2025 from Nuveen, where he was CIO and head of funds management. Alex Griffiths, previously managing director and head of investor relations at AEW Europe, will also join the business in September.

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UK single-family rental housing developer and operator Placefirst, backed by Matter Real Estate, has appointed Lee McLean as CEO, effective 3 August. 

McLean joins from global platform Campus Living Villages, where he served as UK CEO for nearly eight years, overseeing a portfolio of more than 10,300 student beds. He succeeds David Mawson, who became executive chair in February as part of his planned retirement. 

McLean will oversee a portfolio of more than 2,300 homes in operation. The platform also has 1,300 homes under construction and a further 600 in the pipeline, with a long-term target of 10,000 homes.