PRS brand takes 800 Middlewood Locks apartments

A joint venture between Delancey Oxford Residential, APG and Qatari Diar has confirmed the forward-purchase of more than 800 rental homes at Middlewood Locks in Salford, to be managed by its Get Living platform.

Middlewood Locks is the long-term 25-acre residential scheme being developed by FairBriar International, a joint venture of 50% stakeholder Scarborough International Properties, Metro Holdings of Singapore and China’s Hualing Group

The Delancey-APG-Qatari Diar joint venture was set up to invest in large-scale residential-led developments, primarily in the Greater London area and the top five cities in the UK by population. This is its first venture in Greater Manchester, following sites in East London and Elephant & Castle..

The overall Middlewood Locks scheme is to provide a total of 2,215 new homes and 900,000 sq ft of commercial space including a hotel, gym, restaurants and retail.

Get Living is the joint venture’s wholly-owned residential, lettings and management platform, and will take over operational responsibility for the 800 homes and associated public realm at Middlewood Locks, from completion of the development. The first phase of 275 homes will launch this year.

Rick de Blaby, executive chairman of Get Living, said: “We are very excited to be bringing Get Living to the North West on behalf of our shareholders. The location, the masterplan and the building designs at Middlewood Locks provides us with the homes and public realm that enables Get Living to deliver.

“We’ve been impressed by Scarborough International Properties’ vision for Middlewood Locks and we’re pleased to be partnering with them in this next phase of our ambitious UK growth.”

Simon Marshall, joint chief executive of Scarborough International Properties, said: “This is a tremendous boost to Middlewood Locks, not just in accelerating the delivery of the overall scheme, but also providing much needed housing to the local area and offering a balance of homes for sale and for rent.

“Get Living shares our ambition for creating a sustainable and contemporary neighbourhood with a strong sense of community.”

By the end of 2019, Get Living expects to have a portfolio of around 3,000 operational homes, and a secured pipeline of more than 4,000 units.

CBRE and BCLP represented the purchasing joint venture.