SFR Venture Surpasses £500M In Assets With Housebuilder Deal

A joint venture investing in the UK single-family rental sector has struck a forward-funding deal with a housebuilder that will see its portfolio grow to £500M in just three years.

Aviva Investors and Packaged Living on Tuesday announced they have completed a deal to forward-fund the creation of 174 new homes in Bordon, Hampshire, with a gross development value of around £60M.

It is the sixth investment made by the two firms since launching their single-family housing platform in November 2021. The platform aims to increase the supply of affordable and energy-efficient homes across the UK. Together, the partnership has 1,400 homes with a capital value of £500M. Homes are either operational, in construction or planning stages, or under exclusivity, including developments in the West Midlands and Ipswich.

Consisting of two-, three- and four-bed suburban houses, which will provide over 160K SF of family housing, the homes will be located in the Prince Philip Park development in Whitehill & Bordon, Hampshire. It forms part of a 200-hectare scheme on the site of a former military base, which is expected to deliver more than 2,400 new residences when completed. The wider scheme is being developed by Taylor Wimpey.

All homes in the portfolio will use air-source heat pumps and electric-only energy solutions rather than gas-powered alternatives. The Bordon development will also feature electric vehicle charging for every dwelling and an associated parking space, as well as wastewater heat recovery systems and photovoltaic panels to help improve efficiency and further drive down costs.

The single-family housing model was traditionally the preserve of the north-west, Packaged Living said in a statement. However, the Hampshire acquisition is consistent with the “home-counties” weighting of the partnership’s portfolio, confirming that suburban build-to-rent has come to the south-east.