Sigma plans 2,000 houses with Kuwaiti backing
REGENERATION group Sigma has unveiled plans to spend £200m building 2,000 homes in Liverpool and Greater Manchester.
The listed group, which is already working with Salford and Liverpool city councils on various redevelopment schemes, said it ultimately wants to build 6,600 homes for rent at a number of locations at a cost of £700m.
It has established a joint venture with London-based Gatehouse Bank, a shariah-compliant investment bank owned by Kuwait-based Securities House.
Gatehouse is putting cash into the venture but they are also seeking bank finance for the first phase which will cover 90 acres and 22 sites in the two cities. Some 1,450 houses will be built in Salford and Trafford with a further 550 in Merseyside, mainly in Liverpool.
Sigma said Gatehouse had an option to commit to the equity element of the £500m required to deliver he second phase of 4,600 houses.
Edinburgh-based Sigma has won praise from the Government for the deal. Prime Minister David Cameron said: “As part of our plan to help Britain succeed, we are determined to build a rebalanced economy across the country. As we compete in a tough global race, Sigma’s joint venture with Gatehouse is brilliant news for the North West and for Britain, showing that we are open for business.”
Sigma’s chief executive Graham Barnet said: “Underpinning this new venture are our local authority partnerships and I am extremely pleased that this agreement creates the conditions for us to help efficiently deliver their regeneration objectives, with high quality new homes. Once bank funding is in place, we look forward to delivering the initial tranche of around 2,000 new homes over the next two years.”
In May Sigma said it was working on a new funding model to deliver 1,000 homes for rent in Liverpool where it is in partnership with the council through a regeneration vehicle called Regeneration Liverpool. In Salford it is involved in a partnership with the council and the Royal Bank of Scotland where it controls around 30 acres of land and takes a management fee for running the development programme.
