Vistry Group has signed a major deal to deliver 5,000 new homes for the Build-To-Rent (BTR) market over a five-year period.
The housebuilder announced today (14 February) a new framework agreement with Sigma Capital Group’s BTR brand, Simple Life Homes.
It follows a major business restructure announced by Vistry last year, where the FTSE 250 company merged its Housebuilding and Partnerships operations.
The news also comes as housing secretary Michael Gove announced yesterday (13 February) every council in England must prioritise brownfield developments under a reform to planning rules designed to increase housebuilding.
Under Mr Gove’s proposal, the bar for refusing plans will be far higher and planning authorities in England’s 20 largest cities and towns that fail to hit their housing targets (95 per cent) will be made to follow a ‘brownfield presumption’ edict.
Little else appears to be known about exact locations and the programme for delivery at this initial stage, other than the 5,000 homes will be delivered across several UK regions over the next five years.
In November last year, Vistry Group landed a “record” new build residential investment deal with Leaf Living and Sage Homes worth £819 million to deliver more than 2,900 properties across 70 developments.
Vistry-owned Countryside Partnerships has been a framework partner on Sigma’s BTR delivery programme since 2014.
“This framework agreement with Sigma is another great example of how our Partnerships model can deliver at scale the mix of housing tenures that residents across the UK desperately need,” said Vistry Group CEO, Greg Fitzgerald.
“High-quality build-to-rent homes continue to be an important offering for our mixed-tenure communities, and we are thrilled to be continuing our long-term partnership with Sigma.”
Graham Barnet, CEO and founder of Sigma, added: “We are delighted to be extending our long-term relationship with Vistry. They have been the foundation partner of our BTR single family housing model since 2014 where we have delivered over 8,500 new family homes across the UK with a delivery cost of £2.25 billion to date.
“We currently have over 3,500 additional homes under construction across the UK and with a track record of 98 per cent let or reserved at any given time, and above industry standard BTR customer review scores, we’re looking forward to delivering many more much needed BTR family housing over the next five years with our partner Vistry.
“Vistry have been the majority delivery partner across our estate and define the concept of Partnership in both our complementary models to deliver high quality family homes for rent at scale.”
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