Whether you're looking for support with development transactions; structuring arrangements; debt funding, addressing the challenges of energy transition, or navigating the increasing prominence of digitalisation and data management in the living space – we can help.
Living explained
Living is the part of the real estate market that relates to the creation, management, and handling of the places where people choose to live. We say "choose to live" as it's not about non-voluntary housing, such as institutions like prisons or hospitals. Our Living practice covers a wide range of activities and disciplines related to housing:
- House-building
- Build-to-Rent (BTR)
- Affordable housing
- The private rented sector (PRS)
- Purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA)
- Later Living
- Co-Living
- Local authority housing.
The scale of the sector
To give you an idea of the scale, a 2024 report valued the UK real estate market at approximately £9.6 trillion. Of that, £8.7 trillion was made up of residential assets. Living is by far the largest part of the UK real estate market by asset value. Build-to-Rent alone saw £5.3 billion in investment in 2024.
Unlocking the potential of build to rent
We see huge potential in the BTR market and think there are a multitude of lessons we can learn from the more mature US model.
We delved deeper into this theory by asking 700 developers, investors and funders their views.
Find out what they said in our latest report 
Download the report here
Why WBD?
Our clients each have unique goals, but they all share the same commitment to tackle the UK's housing shortage. Whether it's through building traditional homes, meeting the growing demand for social and affordable housing, Build-to-Rent, or developing innovative modular solutions on brownfield sites.
The consistent pressure to resolve the housing crisis has placed the sector firmly in the spotlight. We help clients respond, through our extensive legal expertise in all areas of housing; including strategic land and collaboration agreements, planning applications, construction, environmental issues and more. We also facilitate joint ventures and partnerships to drive innovation and growth in the sector.
We have unrivalled balance and depth in our UK Living practice, supporting some of the most significant public sector bodies, developers, investors, and funders across the sector. In addition, we have unparalleled access to expertise and insights from our US business, making us uniquely placed to give holistic, valuable, and highly commercial advice on UK Living – particularly for foreign capital seeking to enter the UK market.
Don't take our word for it
Addington
Grainger Plc
Bellway Homes
Gatehouse & Carlyle
Gatehouse & Greykite
Torus Developments
Acting for property investment and asset management specialist Addington and its investor partner in the sale of the Headingley Park Build to Rent scheme in Leeds to a private investor client of Allsop for £27.65m.
Addington have been working with its current partner since 2018, during which time the final two buildings on the site – Park House and more recently Stockdale House, which completed in September 2024 – had been converted from offices into the Build-to-Rent blocks. The whole estate now comprises a stabilised 222 homes across five buildings – 43 studio, 143 one-bedroom and 36 two-bedroom apartments. Set within an approximately 5.9-acre parkland site, Headingley Park will provide a gross income of £2.72m per annum when fully let. Amenities include a resident’s lounge, co-working area, large, landscaped gardens and parking and electric charging points.
Acting in the stabilised stock acquisition of a 135-apartment block in Manchester from M&G Real Estate for £31m and the disposal of 80 PRS units in London for £27m
Build to Rent – multi-family housing. Acted for the investor in relation to a number of forward funding development agreements for the delivery of (amongst others):
- 132 flats in Southampton (c. £27m)
- 259 flats in Derby (c. £38m)
- 307 flats in Cardiff (c. £57m)
- 216 flats in Leeds (c. £34m)
- 237 flats in Sheffield (c. £32m).
Acting for Bellway on the unconditional purchase of large development site near Darlington with consent for 950+ new homes.
Acting on the £50m acquisition of 288 new build homes across 15 sites from Gleeson Homes and 174 new build homes across four sites from Persimmon Homes with a subsequent refinance to Natwest. Further follow-on deals over 421 units from Avant, Gleeson, Persimmon, all of which are refinanced to Natwest.
One of the largest SFH transactions in the sector acquiring 643 units across 17 estates from Persimmon Homes. Refinance of all units to Natwest.
Acted on the acquisition of land on a larger remediated site for development for 295 affordable rented and shared ownership plots at a GDV of approx. £42 million involving brownfield land funding, tax advice and planning, planning involvement, construction advice and estate disposal documents.
