New PRS contract is a key moment for the ‘wider private rental sector’

A major new contract that will apparently ‘change the perception of the rental sector’, by setting a new standard of offering ‘professionally managed, quality homes’ has been agreed.

SDL Group secured the exclusive letting and management contract as part of Sigma Capital’s new independent real estate investment trust (REIT).

The PRS REIT has been created by Sigma Capital to look after its current housing stock in the private rented sector, as well as significantly upscale its future output, creating thousands of new rental homes across the UK.

SDL Group will act as a key delivery partner for the PRS REIT, taking on the initial letting and managing of 1,074 properties across 14 sites, which will be expanded to an estimated 10,000 properties over the next five years.

“This is a key moment, not only for us as a group, but also the wider private rental sector,” said Rob Clifford, group commercial director at SDL Group.

“We know that it is a rapidly growing market and that more people are seeing renting as a viable lifestyle choice. This new deal shows a real commitment to the future of the sector, offering the consumer a greater choice of quality housing across the country.”

He added: “The announcement of this new contract is testament to months of hard work by our PRS team and our ability to work in partnership with some of the biggest names in the property sector to constantly deliver results that go above and beyond.”

As well as receiving funds from leading UK institutions and qualifying private investors, the REIT also received a direct investment of £25m from the government-funded Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) – a fund that was created to scale-up the creation of PRS homes.

Paul Staley, SDL group’s director of PRS, commented: “Over the past few years, we have been working hard to change the perception of the rental sector, setting the standard by offering professionally managed, quality homes.

“Now we are involved with the first ever REIT to focus purely on the private rented sector. It’s a great opportunity for us to take our ethos of ‘blowing our customers socks off’ to a much wider audience and provide a rental experience that far exceeds the norm.

“We know that initial fundraising for the REIT was significantly over subscribed, so the potentially for future growth is tremendous, which is great news for all involved.”

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