Contributors
International law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) has advised longstanding client Gatehouse Investment Management (Gatehouse IM) and new client Carlyle on their first co-operation arrangement and acquisition, in one of the largest Single Family Rental (SFR) transactions in the UK this year.
The £50 million acquisition includes 288 new build homes across 15 locations, to be developed by Gleeson Homes, and marks the entry into the UK SFH market by global investment firm Carlyle (NASDAQ: CG).
A large cross office multi-disciplinary specialist single family housing (SFH) team at WBD advised Gatehouse IM and Carlyle on the acquisition of 288 new homes – led by Newcastle-based Real Estate Partner Tom Willows. In addition, WBD advised Gatehouse IM on the co-operation arrangements – led by London-based corporate partner Carl Powlson and asset management and property management agreements – led by London-based commercial partner Lucy Pringle.
Tom Willows commented:
"Womble Bond Dickinson has been at the forefront of SFR activity across the UK and we're seeing a continuing upward trend, with SFR developments being approved in over 100 local authorities across the UK.
This is the latest in a series of significant single family housing instructions and enforces WBD's position as one of the UK's leading firms for SFR work. Heads of terms on this transaction were signed only six weeks ago and the whole team has worked extremely hard and leveraged our multi-disciplinary teams and SFR expertise and experience to get this over the line for the deadline of end of June."
WBD has a broad build to rent (including SFR) client base and has supported clients on SFR transactions with £110 million aggregate deal value and for delivery of 560+ new homes in 2022. The firm's real estate team offers specialist dedicated advice and support to Build To Rent developers and investors alike, and has worked with several key players in the sector including: Grainger, Hearthstone Investments, Leaf Living, Packaged Living, Citra, Bellway Homes Limited and Platform.
