Latest large-scale forward sale deal is worth £580m
Vistry has signed a deal with investment firms Blackstone Real Estate and Regis for the forward sale of 1,750 of homes in an agreement with a gross development value of £580m.
The homes will be managed by private rented sector housing provider Leaf Living, which is backed by funds managed by Blackstone and Regis.
The homes will be pre-sold in line with Vistry’s Partnerships strategy of pre-selling around 65% of all homes across the business.
The homes will be built on plots located across 36 Vistry developments, which are concentrated in the South-east of England.
The first completions under the agreement are expected by the end of June, with the majority of homes expected to be completed within the next two years.
On the agreement, Greg Fitzgerald, chief executive of Vistry Group, said: “By working in partnership with organisations like Leaf Living we can maximise the number of high-quality homes we deliver every year.
”This agreement supports our differentiated business model, with the certainty provided by the pre-selling of homes enabling us to accelerate our build programmes, guarantee work for our supply chain, reduce sales and build costs and create vibrant new communities. This year we are on track to deliver more than a 10% increase in new home completions, playing a key part in helping to address the UK’s acute housing shortage.”
In September last year, Vistry announced that following a review of the group’s strategy in the wake of its £1.1bn merger with Countryside in 2022, it would focus its entire business on partnerships.
Vistry said the re-organisation would drive £25m in cost savings, over and above the £60m in efficiencies it said had already been derived from the Countryside purchase.
Vistry has been ramping up its housebuilding output to deliver 20,000 homes per year “in short measure”. In the longer term, Vistry is setting itself up to deliver 25,000 homes per year under its new partnerships housing strategy.
>> See also: SNG selects Vistry to deliver 575-home scheme in west London
>> See also: ‘I’m extremely demanding’: Greg Fitzgerald on delivering the Vistry growth plan
Partnerships housing is the name given to a development model under which developers work with housing associations, local authorities, and investors in private rented housing to bring forward developments which tend to have a much lower proportion of homes for private sale than would be expected from traditional developers.
In its results for the year to 31 December 2023, Vistry posted revenue of £3.56bn, up 28.6% on £2.77bn the year prior.
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