Sustainable London rental housing project secures £285m boost from NatWest

In September 2020, EQT Exeter, the real estate arm of global investment organisation, EQT, and Sigma Capital Group, a residential development and urban regeneration specialist, launched a new joint venture to build “high-quality, well-located” apartment blocks and houses in “more affordable” parts of Greater London and its commuter towns.

The project delivers buildings with “strong” sustainability credentials where possible. The homes tap into local community heating networks and utilise photovoltaic panels. It will also promote sustainable living practices, as the developments will include ample cycle storage and will typically be located near green outdoor areas.

The project has an initial capacity for an investment portfolio of approximately 3,000 homes, with a total value of over £1bn. The homes are operated under Sigma Capital’s well-established brand “Simple Life London” and are offered at affordable rent specific to each location’s average household income.

After agreeing an initial £150m debt package with NatWest and Leumi UK in February 2022, the NatWest team sourced further liquidity by introducing Allied Irish Bank and Dutch bank, NIBC to the lender group who agreed to provide further development finance, alongside NatWest and Leumi UK.

This brings the total funding for EQT and Sigma Capital’s build-to-rent housing project to £285m. This flexible debt package supports both the joint venture’s current schemes and future acquisitions planned for 2023.

Lee Franklin, director of structured real estate finance at NatWest Group, commented: “We are pleased to have sourced additional debt liquidity to continue to support EQT Exeter and Sigma Capital deliver much-needed homes across Greater London, wholly consistent with the NatWest ethos of purposeful lending.”

Peter Shacalis, managing director at EQT Exeter, said: “EQT Exeter is very pleased to have secured further funding which will help us to build affordable rental homes in London. We are delighted with our financing solution, which was designed to be scalable and help us to achieve our longer-term business plan and strategy.”

Graham Barnet, CEO at Sigma, added: “We are delighted to further expand our delivery of new rental homes, and we thank NatWest and the other institutions within the lending group for supporting organisations such as ours looking to deliver significant social impact by providing housing to renters in affordable locations as well as offering community services within Greater London and its commuter towns.”

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily

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