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Blackstone sells over 500 single-family homes for £225m
Private equity giant Blackstone has agreed to sell over 500 single-family private rented homes for £225m.
Private equity giant Blackstone has agreed to sell over 500 single-family private rented homes for £225m #UKhousingThe asset manager has struck a deal to sell homes from its Leaf Living build-to-rent platform to the Salford-based developer Placefirst.
The deal is the UK’s largest ever sale of fully operational single-family housing, which refers to low-rise, purpose-built rental homes in suburban areas.
It encompasses 520 homes across seven sites in the South East, with the price reflecting a capitalisation rate of 4.2%.
Blackstone is selling the portfolio from its Leaf Living build-to-rent platform, which was established in 2021 with property investment company Regis.
The entire portfolio is under exclusivity, with an initial tranche due to close imminently.
Blackstone declined to comment on the transaction.
A record £2.5bn was invested in single-family rental homes in the UK last year, according to property agency Savills.
Just over half of all UK build-to-rent investment in 2024 was into single-family housing. The other 49% went into urban multi-family apartment blocks.
The rise of single-family housing has been rapid. It represented just 5% of build-to-rent investment on average between 2018 and 2022.
Leaf Living, along with other big investors such as Lloyds Living and Sigma Capital, purchased 5,000 homes between them in 2024.
The advantages of single-family homes for investors include lower operating costs than flats, which have lifts and communal spaces to manage, and the profile of tenants, who tend to be families and less transient in nature, reducing turnover and voids.
There are now 14,000 operational single-family homes in the UK and a further 13,000 under construction.
Blackstone is also active in affordable rented housing (via Sage Homes, its group of for-profit providers) and student accommodation, through its IQ platform.
In January, Leaf Living partnered with Vistry Group and Paradigm to deliver 370 homes near Oxford.
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