Investor buys Lancashire site for rented homes development

Sigma Capital has bought a site in Lancashire as it expands its delivery of private rented sector (PRS) homes.

The investor, which has an office in Manchester, has bought three sites with a total development cost of £27m.

Around 200 homes will be built on the sites in Howe Bridge Mill, near Atherton, as well as Birmingham and Telford.

Construction is being undertaken by Countryside Properties and the first homes are expected to be available to rent in early autumn. 

Graham Barnet, chief executive of Sigma, said: “These new rental homes are also helping to unlock the delivery of a wider development scheme which includes new market-for-sale and affordable homes.”
 
The delivery of these sites is being facilitated by the funding agreed with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). Sigma expects to acquire further sites, deploying the HCA facility, to create a self-funded portfolio with a total gross development cost of more than £60m. 

HCA chairman Sir Edward Lister said: “Our £45m loan from the Home Building Fund will mean that working with Sigma Capital we will help thousands of families in the North and Midlands move into a new, high-quality rented home.  Sigma Capital has already delivered its first homes and more than 370 more homes are to follow over the next 12 months.”