London developer launches £500m acquisition fund to boost buy-to-rent portfolio

A London-based property developer and investor has announced a new multi-million pound fund to expand into the capital’s build-to-rent sector.

Avanton is set to invest up to £500m in strategic land acquisitions for new built-to-rent developments.

The new land fund will target the acquisition of sites across London in locations such as Islington, Southwark, Wandsworth, Wimbledon, Hammersmith, Lambeth, Camden and Brent, with a view to delivering up to 5,000 build-to-rent units between 2021 and 2023.

Omer Weinberger, CEO of Avanton, commented: “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.

“This is why Avanton is currently undergoing a three-year expansion into the build-to-rent and mixed-tenure sectors. To implement this we have set aside £500m and are seeking attractive land opportunities to grow our BTR development pipeline yet further.”

David Ronson, sales & marketing director of Avanton, added: “We are seeking to expand our build-to-rent, mixed tenure and private sale portfolios because despite the obvious challenges the property market has been extremely resilient and recovered rapidly last year after the lockdown.

“This year the market sentiment has been cautiously upbeat as the UK has taken a global lead in the vaccine rollout and we see great opportunity at this moment in the property cycle.”