Avanton plans to spend £500m on BTR sites in inner London

UK-based investor-developer Avanton wants to spend up to £500 million (€573 million) on sites for build-to-rent development in London during the next three years and aims to build 5,000 units between 2021 and 2023.

Avanton, which is an established operator in the residential build-to-sell market, said that given the level of demand, there is a lack of high quality, purpose-built, rental stock in the capital.

Its new land fund will target sites in Inner London in districts such as Islington, Southwark, Wandsworth, Wimbledon, Hammersmith, Lambeth, Camden and Brent.

The company is seeking sites individually worth between £20 million and £100 million which have capacity for between 300 and 1,000 units each.

The company will work alone or through joint ventures and will acquire sites with or without planning consent as well as those with consent for commercial uses that have scope for change of use to residential.

Projects are already in the pipeline

The company already has sites in the pipeline. These include a project in Richmond, with JV partner ICG, where an urban-village development is planned on a 4.45 acre former Homebase DIY retail site with a gross development value of £250 million.

The project will deliver 453 apartments, a pocket-park, retail, community and office uses, and landscaping. It has been designed by Assael Architecture.

Omer Weinberger, CEO, Avanton.

On Old Kent Road, Southwark, Avanton has consent for the £730 million (GDV) Ruby Triangle project (pictured above) which will provide 1,414 new homes, of which around half will be build-to-rent. A third pipeline site in the London Borough of Brent will provide 500 units.

“The only viable solution to London’s housing crisis and the shortage of supply of new homes in the capital is delivering multiple tenure schemes and expanding BTR, intermediate and social housing provision,” said Avanton CEO Omer Weinberger.

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