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A host of big-name buyers are in the hunt for a £750M rented residential portfolio being sold by a housing association.
Blackstone, Kennedy Wilson, Apace Capital, LRC Group and a joint venture between Ridgeback and Morgan Stanley are among the early bidders for Project Vanguard, a portfolio of London assets being sold by Notting Hill Genesis, Green Street News reported.
The sale is part of a couple of wider trends in the UK rented residential sector. It is the second major portfolio of market-rent residential being sold by a housing association. These bodies need to raise cash to pay down debt and retrofit their regulated tenancy portfolios.
Ridgeback and Morgan Stanley are in exclusive talks to buy a £1B portfolio being sold by fellow housing association L&Q. Blackstone, Kennedy Wilson, Roger Orf’s Pelham Partners and LRC bid on that portfolio.
Private equity firms are keen to buy standing build-to-rent assets because the lack of new development in the sector over the past couple of years means rents on existing properties are rising.
The amount of new development has been curtailed by increased construction costs and interest rates and a backlog of permissions from the Building Safety Regulator.
Project Vanguard comprises 15 buildings, all of which are in the London and Chelmsford areas. The portfolio has 2,079 apartments, and the buildings are a mixture of freeholds and leaseholds.
Deloitte is advising Notting Hill Genesis on the sale.
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