Funding deal to enable delivery of homes for rent in city centre
Housebuilder, Sky-House Co, has completed a forward funding deal with the St Bride’s White Rose Residential Partnership to deliver 66 residential properties for market rent in Sheffield city centre.
The 0.55 acre former Stokes Tiles Warehouse site – known as “DQ” and forming part of Sheffield’s Devonshire Quarter – will become a new community of two-bedroom duplex homes and one-bedroom apartments.
The first homes will be built in early 2026, with the development scheduled to complete by the end of June 2026.
The deal extends the existing partnership between the two organisations.
St Bride’s White Rose Residential Partnership – managed by St Bride’s Managers on behalf of South Yorkshire Pensions Authority – originally provided a funding facility in August 2021 to help grow Sky-House’s land pipeline.
This facility has supported the company to subsequently build new homes at key South Yorkshire developments including Waverley in Rotherham.
This funding also helped to secure the DQ site. Consented in mid-2023, Sky-House has completed demolition and preparatory works prior to housebuilding getting underway.
A £750,000 grant investment from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority has helped bring the site to market, and supported works such as demolition of a former commercial unit and the build of an acoustic wall for effective noise suppression.
This is Sky-House’s fourth Build to Rent deal agreed in recent months.
It follows Hearthstone Investments purchasing 11 homes for rent to families and young professionals on average incomes at Waverley in late 2023, alongside St Bride’s themselves purchasing 22 new homes to rent at the same development.
The company has also recently revealed a partnership with Placefirst, with an initial scheme of 48 homes at Copper Street in Sheffield City Centre being forward funded following the granting of planning approval this October.
Sky-House Co continues to make strong progress on its other key development sites.
It has begun work on its third phase of housebuilding at Waverley – Harworth Group’s development in Rotherham – building 96 new homes.
It has also started work at Olive Lane, Harworth’s heart of the community scheme at Waverley, which will create a retail, leisure and community development centred around a pedestrianised high street.
Alongside the build of 50 additional new homes, it takes Sky-House’s total contribution at Waverley to 234 homes.
David Cross, founder and director of Sky-House Co, said: “This is another excellent deal for Sky-House, showcasing that our design-led products provide excellent value to Build to Rent funds across the North of England.
“With DQ being a vacant site for a number of years, the last 12 months has also shown that we have the technical capability and know-how to bring forward homes on the most challenging of brownfield sites.
“With a strong pipeline of sites coming forward across the North of England over the next 12 months, we remain committed to growing the number of quality and energy-efficient new homes that we will deliver – providing a standard that buyers and renters across the North of England rightfully expect.”
