Get Living and Watkin Jones Agree £71M forward funding for Leatherhead’s first BTR homes.
- Second deal between Get Living and Watkin Jones will see 214 sustainably designed BTR homes delivered on a disused brownfield site
- Meets hybrid worker demand with easy access to Central London, Leatherhead town centre and the countryside
- Get Living’s ninth neighbourhood and second suburban BTR site, marks their growing presence across the UK with a portfolio of 4,000 operational homes and over 6,500 in the pipeline
Get Living, the UK’s pioneer of large-scale build to rent neighbourhoods and Watkin Jones, the UK’s leading developer and manager of residential for rent homes have agreed a c.£71 million forward funding deal to deliver 214 new rental homes at Randalls Way, Leatherhead.
The development will be the first operational BTR scheme in Leatherhead, which offers future residents quality and well-managed rental homes with the green space of the River Mole Nature Reserve and Leatherhead Park on the doorstep.
On completion it will offer residents one, two and three-bed apartments, including 36 discount market rent homes alongside 3,000 sq ft of resident amenity space and extensive landscaped gardens. The Home Quality Mark ‘Very Good’ development is well positioned for sustainable transport, located seconds from Leatherhead railway station, which offers access to Central London in less than an hour and the open spaces of Box Hill in five minutes.
This is Watkin Jones and Get Living’s second deal since April, where the organisations agreed a £136 million forward funding deal to deliver 551 BTR homes at Sherlock Street, Birmingham.
Rick de Blaby, CEO of Get Living, said: “To help solve the housing crisis in a sustainable manner, it’s important for the development sector to find solutions on brownfield land. With Watkin Jones, we have an ongoing partnership with one of the UK’s most professional and enterprising developers.
“Get Living continues to set the standard for exemplar Build to Rent neighbourhoods up and down the country and it is our responsibility now, with Watkin Jones, to create a compelling new rental offer in a brilliant new neighbourhood for Leatherhead.”
Alex Pease, Chief Investment Officer of Watkin Jones, added: “Sealing our second forward funding agreement with Get Living in quick succession underlines the success of the partnership we are building. We’re looking forward to working closely with the team at Get Living over the coming years to deliver amazing places.”
“This scheme is another example of our teams’ remarkable track record of breaking new ground and introducing BTR into new locations. Leatherhead has all the fundamentals of a great place for future residents, and we’re certain they will enjoy a fantastic life there.”
The site, on Randalls Road, was previously a food research centre and is currently vacant. The neighbourhood will be managed and operated by Get Living, with the scheme expected to complete in early 2025.
Get Living was advised by Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP. Watkin Jones was advised by Addleshaw Goddard LLP.
For More Info Contact:
For further information please contact:
Watkin Jones
James McLarin
Head of External Communications
T: +44 (0) 330 912 4138
+44 (0) 7769 295 590
james.mclarin@watkinjones.com
Get Living
Matthew Richards
FTI Consulting
T: +44 (0)7583 670697
getliving@fticonsulting.com
Notes to Editors
About Get Living
Get Living is the UK’s leading build-to-rent operator of large-scale neighbourhoods. A pioneer in the build to rent sector, Get Living’s market-leading expertise is derived from almost ten years of actively operating the UK’s most prominent build to rent asset, East Village.
Get Living’s portfolio includes circa 4,000 homes for rent across three neighbourhoods: East Village and Elephant Central in London and New Maker Yards at Middlewood Locks, Manchester. A further 6,500 homes are in the secured development pipeline which includes new neighbourhoods in Leeds, Lewisham, Maidenhead, Glasgow, Birmingham and Leatherhead; with ambitions to grow the portfolio to 12,500 homes within the next five years.
About Watkin Jones
Watkin Jones is the UK’s leading developer and manager of residential for rent, with a focus on the build to rent, student accommodation and affordable housing sectors. The Group has strong relationships with institutional investors, and a reputation for successful, on-time-delivery of high-quality developments. Since 1999, Watkin Jones has delivered 46,000 student beds across 136 sites, making it a key player and leader in the UK purpose-built student accommodation market, and is increasingly expanding its operations into the build to rent sector. In addition, Fresh, the Group’s specialist accommodation management business, manages over 22,000 student beds and build to rent apartments on behalf of its institutional clients. Watkin Jones has also been responsible for over 80 residential developments, ranging from starter homes to executive housing and apartments.
The Group’s competitive advantage lies in its experienced management team and capital-light business model, which enables it to offer an end-to-end solution for investors, delivered entirely in-house with minimal reliance on third parties, across the entire life cycle of an asset.
Watkin Jones was admitted to trading on AIM in March 2016 with the ticker WJG.L.
For additional information please visit www.watkinjonesplc.com