500-home development in Belfast is first project under UK-wide  initiative

Build to rent specialist Moda Living has formed a UK-wide partnership with global property developer and investor Osborne & Co to deliver build-to-rent (BTR) homes alongside commercial space for the life sciences.

Under the UK-wide partnership Moda and Osborne will ‘unlock masterplans’ to deliver BTR homes alongside “large-scale best-in-class commercial and life science space.” It will target major cities including Glasgow, Leeds, Edinburgh and Birmingham with hundreds of millions of pounds of investment.

belfast waterside 2

The planned Belfast Waterside scheme will provide 500 build to rent homes alongside technology and innovation space

The first project under the initiative will be the 500-home Belfast Waterside scheme. Moda will acquire a two-acre site from Osborne to deliver a £150m neighbourhood. This will sit alongside around 1.2m sq ft of office , technology and innovation space delivered by Osborne as master developer.

Moda and Osborne believe combining development opportunities for BTR and life sciences commercial space – two fast-growing sectors – can be mutually beneficial. The BTR sector is expanding rapidly, with Savills and the British Property Federation last week revealing the number of completed or planned build-to-rent (BTR) developments in the United Kingdom has increased 14% in a year.

See also>>Goldman Sachs signs deal to buy BTR homes from Urban & Civic

BTR homes now account for one in three new home completions in Manchester (34%) and nearly one in four completions in Liverpool (25%).

Meanwhile, the UK government has launched a £200m life sciences investment programme while British Patient Capital is working with the Abu Dhabi Mubadala Investment Company which has committed £800m to the UK’s life sciences industry.

Oscar Brooks, director at Moda Living, said: “We believe BtR and Life Sciences go hand in hand with a shared target dimorphic and a focus on high quality service driven real estate.”

Conor Osborne, director at Osborne & Co, said: “Our growing partnership with Moda is a truly exciting initiative and we are confident it will be a key driver in unlocking major, strategic mixed-use sites across the UK. “

Moda also earlier this month announced it has set up a co-living arm to deliver 1,000 homes a year.

See also>>The co-living mini-boom and why not everyone is happy about it

 

Topics