Military family housing specialist Annington has increased its investment in the private rented sector (PRS) with the purchase of two portfolios totalling 177 properties for a combined £47m.
In two separate transactions, Annington has completed the purchases of 104 homes from Mill Group’s Oak Portfolio for £23.8m, and 73 homes from Taylor Wimpey for £23.5m, all located in the South East and South West of England.
The double deal follows the acquisition of a £75m portfolio from St Modwen in March of this year, as the company backed by £4bn financing from Guy Hand’s Terra Firma seeks to further increase its profile in the PRS sector. Annington is one of the largest private owners of residential property in the UK and has an existing estate of over 40,000 homes with an asset value of £7.4bn.
Both portfolios will be used to support Annington’s strategy to provide affordable family homes for the UK’s ”most critical workers”, with a particular focus on high quality houses with their own gardens.
In the first of the transactions, Annington has acquired 65 two, three and four-bedroom houses and 39 two-bedroom flats from Mill Group. The properties, all occupied, are in Bristol, Gloucester and Hampshire. Mill Group has managed the £50m Oak Portfolio since 2014 in joint venture with Bovis Homes and Touchstone Residential.
The portfolio acquired from Taylor Wimpey comprises 53 houses and 20 flats in locations across the south of England. All are currently under construction and form part of five Taylor Wimpey developments in in Reading, Bristol, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes.
James Hopkins, chief executive officer of Annington, said: “These two purchases support Annington’s strategy to build greater scale in private rented housing. Our £4bn refinancing last year ensures we have the balance sheet to deliver further growth and these acquisitions build on our purchase of more than 200 homes in March. As one of the few existing landlords with both significant scale and a track record in this space, and with a deep understanding of both local and national markets, we feel we are well placed to make a difference in addressing the UK’s housing challenges. We will continue to actively pursue further opportunities.”
Annington was formed in 1996 with the purchase of 57,434 homes from the Ministry of Defence.
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