Package worth up to £150m secured to help deliver over 1,100 homes
Developer Casa by Moda has secured an initial £60m debt facility from NatWest, with the ability to rise to £150m, allowing it to accelerate delivery of new homes for rent across the UK.
The commitment from NatWest will form part of Harrogate-headquartered Casa’s funding package and will help spearhead the brand’s expansion, directly supporting delivery of over 1,100 new rental homes in the UK’s single family homes (SFH) sector.
Homes will be built at sites in Yorkshire, the North West, and Midlands.
The deal follows Casa’s recent acquisition of 223 new homes in Kirkstall, Leeds from housebuilder Artisan to create its Casa, Abbey Court neighbourhood, and in a first for the Glasgow region, the purchase of 156 homes from CCG Homes to create Casa, Vista Park, a new neighbourhood located to the east end of the city.
Johnny Caddick, chief executive at Moda Living, said: “This new funding package from NatWest is a major milestone in Casa’s growth trajectory.
“This year we will welcome our first residents into our neighbourhoods in both Glasgow and Leeds, but we’re also gearing up our programme of delivery which will see us achieve our aim of securing more than 5,000 new homes by 2025.
“As a team we are passionate about delivering a best-in-class experience that puts service, technology, wellbeing and sustainability at the very forefront of our offer.
“At the same time, we are committed to creating people focused, well-connected neighbourhoods in the suburbs of the UK’s major cities, that fit in seamlessly, and actively enhance their surrounding communities.
“Looking forward, we have ambitious plans and are actively seeking new opportunities and partners across the UK; from housebuilders to local authorities and landowners, to deliver the new high quality, well managed suburban rental homes that are needed to match the growth in demand.”
Casa says the SFH model is growing in popularity. It sees developers own and operate neighbourhoods in suburban areas, as opposed to the traditional city centre locations which are associated with build to rent (BTR) development.
The business notes this has been highlighted as a solution to the UK’s housing crisis, by professionalising the private rented sector, which has long been controlled by individual private landlords.
Charlie Foster, head of real estate at NatWest, said: “We are happy to be supporting Casa with their strategy, which provides much needed, high quality, single-family rental homes in the UK.
“It is exciting to see our debt facility assist with the provision of new build homes into the Glasgow and Leeds markets, where residents will benefit from Casa’s institutional quality management.
“NatWest have a long history of backing the UK residential sector across all tenures, and our support for the emerging single-family rental sector is a continuation of that commitment.”
