Real estate investor adds series of development sites to portfolio

A Manchester-based closed-ended private rental sector real estate investment trust established to invest in new-build homes has acquired a series of development sites across the North West.

PRS REIT, which launched last year, has snapped up three development sites with a combined gross development cost of £34.4m, and purchased an additional completed PRS site for £9.08m.

The three development sites comprise a site in Greater Manchester and two sites in Merseyside, and will yield a total of 238 additional new family homes.

Once fully let, the properties are expected to generate an estimated rental value of £2.17m a year.

Sigma PRS Management will manage the delivery of the homes, with Countryside Properties as the construction partner.

The completed PRS site in Greater Manchester was acquired from Manchester-based property group Sigma Capital Group. It comprises 59 new, fully let, family homes and generates a rental value of around £54,000 a year.

The acquisitions bring the total number of sites acquired by the PRS REIT, or currently under construction to 25, equating to approximately 1,670 new family homes.

The gross development cost of these sites totals £239.3m and the new homes are expected to deliver a rental value of £15.1m a year.