Canadian investor Realstar on Friday ignored Brexit jitters in the residential market, and revealed it has agreed to create £200 million of new rental homes in London.
It has just inked a deal with Balfour Beatty and housing association Places for People to acquire a plot by the Olympic Park in Stratford. It will also fund a project being built by FTSE 250 business Redrow in Southall, west London.
Realstar will build more than 300 homes on the sites, and the Southall project will be run by its new residential brand called Uncle.
The firm’s UK boss Ryan Prince said he wants to “aggressively” grow Uncle, which aims to create high-quality rental homes, filled with Made.com furniture, free on-site gyms, and no-letting fees to estate agents.
At present there are around 2000 existing or under construction Uncle flats, mostly in London.
Prince hopes to double that over the next two to three years. The expansion comes despite concerns that Britain’s departure from the EU will deter buyers and renters from the capital.
Prince said: “We create studios to three-bed properties where rents start from less than £1000 per month. I think there is a severe need in London for professionally run and modern rental homes where tenants can speak to their landlord any time of day.”
He added: “Brexit hasn’t deterred me from investing here. The housing shortage isn’t going away soon.”
