German real estate investor ECE is buying Dandara’s portfolio in a £400m deal. This marks the largest acquisition in the UK multifamily market. ECE will acquire 2,063 Build to Rent homes across three key city centre schemes: Chapel Wharf in Manchester, Aston Place in Birmingham and Leodis Square in Leeds.
The acquisition of the three sites includes 324 units already completed at Aston Place, with an additional 1,739 units at the other two sites that are under construction and due for completion later this year. Dandara, who’s management portfolio consists of over 4,000 units across the UK will continue to manage the developments under its Dandara Living brand.
“We were delighted to be able to assist ECE in such a notable transaction for the UK multifamily sector. Their commitment at this time recognises not just the rare value of such a quality portfolio of scale, but also takes note of the fundamental supply demand dynamics in the UK rental market, which far outweigh any political uncertainty that the market has been facing in recent times.”
Simon Scott, Lead Director, UK Living Capital Markets, JLL
This deal is one of the most significant transactions undertaken in the UK and reflects the positive strength of the UK’s market offer.
“While many investors have been shying away from taking any material investment decisions in this sector in 2019 due to the lingering uncertainty around Brexit, we felt this to be a good time to invest given the underlying positive fundamentals.
“The portfolio offers the opportunity of a sizable entry into the UK market, providing a great starting point to eventually build an ECE platform. Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds benefit from a large share in the most relevant age bracket Build to Rent appeals to, positive employment figures, and in consequence a remarkable demand for modern and professionally operated Build to Rent apartments.”
Henrie W Kötter, Chief Investment Officer, ECE
