EcoWorld London

EcoWorld London agrees terms for 'significant' BTR deal



EcoWorld London has agreed heads of terms with Invesco Real Estate to forward fund the development of more than 1,000 new build-to-rent (BTR) homes on two sites in Kew and Barking, with a value of nearly £400m.


The Kew site is located next to Brentford Football Club’s new 17,250-capacity stadium, which is currently under construction, while the Barking site is situated next to Barking Abbey.

EcoWorld London is set to complete the construction of the developments to the high specification agreed with the investors and will then undertake the long-term management of the assets on behalf of Invesco Real Estate.

Both sites have planning permission in place and development work has already commenced and is expected to reach completion in stages from 2020 onwards.

As both parties head into a period of exclusivity, the detailed contractual arrangements are targeted to reach conclusion by the end of October 2018.

“EcoWorld London sees great potential in the UK BTR market, and this deal validates our strategic move to make the fast-emerging BTR business one of the key growth drivers for EcoWorld London,” said Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Liew Kee Sin, executive vice chairman at EcoWorld International (pictured above, back row, left).

“As a business, we are perfectly placed to develop and manage these schemes to the high quality that investors and residents expect from us and, through EcoWorld London, we have the best-in-class BTR capabilities - this significant investment by a US-based global pension fund in two of our projects is testament to that. 

“In the future, we will seek to do more deals of this kind and we have already received expressions of interest from other funds – particularly from Asia – keen to pursue potential investments into the UK BTR sector. 

“This signifies their confidence and ours in the positive long-term prospects of the UK property market, particularly that of the BTR sector.”

Heng Leong Cheong, CEO at EcoWorld London (pictured above, front row, left), added: “This deal highlights the immense opportunities in this emerging sector and represents an important new engine of growth for EcoWorld London and the UK, despite the potential challenges of the current pre-Brexit market.

“There is undeniably a significant shortage of quality homes in Greater London - in particular homes catered specifically for the rental demographic.

“We are committed to investing more resources into this market and create great places for people to live, whether you are an owner-occupier or tenant.”

In June, EcoWorld International announced the launch of EcoWorld London. 

Also pictured: John German (Invesco Real Estate), back row, right, and Simon Redman (Invesco Real Estate), front row, right



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