KKR makes first UK deal worth £1bn with Moda Living
Private equity firm KKR has made its first build to rent investment in Edgbaston, Birmingham with Moda Living.
The first acquisition in the platform deal at New Garden Square is in partnership with developer Court Collaboration and landowner Calthorpe Estates, to design a 392-home neighbourhood on the Calthorpe Estate.
The scheme is part of Moda’s new Select strategy, which aims to deliver 5,000 new homes across the UK, increasing the total of homes built by Moda to 18,400, worth a combined £6bn.
Court Collaboration secured the 392-home development in March 2020 and the £120m New Square Development has been bought by Moda. Calthorpe Estates, which acquired the leasehold, has construction firm Winvic in the pipeline for the build.
Finance for the deal came from KKR’s second European real estate fund, having raised £1.6bn for investments in Western Europe, focusing on residential and logistics. KKR will forward-fund the development, in addition to senior debt from lender BentallGreenOak.
Harrogate based Moda are looking for further developments that will be forward-funded by KKR across the UK.
Oscar Brooks, director at Moda Living, said the platform will sit under the Moda Living brand, but provide differentiation through a “more mainstream, amenity-lite build-to-rent model”.
Lower-rise buildings outside the city centre will see centralised communal spaces around the ground floor supported by the Moda operating platform, including its app and services. This will allow Moda to offer “a more price-accessible rent”.
Alex Neale, managing director at Court Collaboration, said: “London was always a safe haven, but Birmingham has so much growth potential, it is the next natural place for private equity.”
He added that the BTR at Edgbaston will be complemented by the Midlands metro extension and wider mixed-use development, creating “a new village” for Birmingham.
