This is the first time DOOR has sourced funding from external investors. The capital will be used to invest in Get Living's existing development pipeline and for further large-scale acquisition opportunities as the platform pursues its ambition to become the pre-eminent UK-wide build-to-rent provider.
DOOR, which was seeded with £600 million of capital from Oxford and DV4, acquired a 39% stake in Get Living in August 2018. DOOR subsequently selectively approached large-scale like-minded strategic capital to participate alongside their initial investment. The Alecta investment is the first commitment from this external fundraise and brings DOOR's current capital commitments to up to £850 million. The capital will be used to facilitate the continued growth of Get Living's portfolio, which currently targets up to 12,000-14,000 homes, a scale which the sponsors hope will drive further operational efficiencies, investor outperformance, and an exceptional customer proposition.
Get Living currently comprises approximately 3,000 operational homes, mainly across two London schemes at East Village, the former Athletes' Village at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, and Elephant Central in Elephant and Castle, with a smaller neighbourhood at Middlewood Locks, Manchester. The portfolio also features approximately 1,000 homes currently under construction and a secured development pipeline of 4,000 homes, located at East Village, Elephant & Castle and Middlewood Locks, as well as two sites in the key regional cities of Glasgow and Leeds. Delancey and Qatari Diar are providing development manager services on the various schemes.
The Get Living strategy is underpinned by a continued lack of high quality rental accommodation in the UK, combined with ongoing unaffordability of house prices for first time buyers, which has created substantial demand in a nascent professional build-to-rent sector supported by significant institutional investment over the past few years.
Get Living continues to target large scale development sites across the UK that comprise 400 units or more once complete to create vibrant residential-led neighbourhoods, as well as stabilised assets, forward funding and corporate acquisitions.
Paul Brundage, Head of Europe and Asia Pacific at Oxford Properties said: "In this new partnership with Alecta, we have attracted a like-minded strategic partner that shares both Oxford and Delancey's conviction in the sector, our aspirations to support the ambitious growth of the Get Living business and our goal to create an unrivalled customer proposition. This fundraise will facilitate the expansion of the Get Living platform towards our target scale of 12,000 to 14,000 units and underpins our confidence in our global diversification strategy to invest into demographically-supported asset classes such as multifamily.
"This is a great addition to the more than £10 billion in partner capital we manage across the world through co-investments on assets and portfolios. This cornerstone investment into DOOR demonstrates our ability to attract capital and develop further relationships with important strategic partners, such as Alecta. We will continue our ongoing discussions with other capital partners who share our conviction in the potential of the Get Living platform and the build-to-rent sector in the UK."
"This investment into DOOR enables us to access the UK residential market, which benefits from attractive supply demand dynamics and opportunities for future growth, through Get Living which is a best-in-class platform. Based on our experience in other European and US residential markets, we are confident that DOOR offers the scale and the quality of service necessary to deliver strong returns for our pension holders. Their highly talented team has a proven track record of successfully sourcing deals and delivering projects, which is why we feel this investment is a good fit for us," says Frans Heijbel, Head of International Real Assets at Alecta."
