Vistry Group has agreed a deal with Blackstone Real Estate and Regis Group for the acquisition of a £580m portfolio of new build homes.

The portfolio of 1,750 new homes would be managed by Leaf Living, a provider of private rented sector housing, which is backed by funds managed by Blackstone and Regis.

These homes would be pre-sold in-line with Vistry’s partnerships strategy of pre-selling around 65% of all homes across the business, and will help the group drive towards its medium-term financial targets.

The portfolio is concentrated in the South East of England and consists largely of plots from Vistry’s former housebuilding landbank.

Vistry is expecting the first completions under the agreement by the end of June 2024, with the majority of homes expected to complete within the next two years.

“By working in partnership with organisations like Leaf Living we can maximise the number of high-quality homes we deliver every year,” commented chief executive at Vistry, Greg Fitzgerald.

“This agreement supports our differentiated business model, with the certainty provided by the pre-selling of homes enabling us to accelerate our build programmes, guarantee work for our supply chain, reduce sales and build costs and create vibrant new communities. This year we are on track to deliver more than a 10% increase in new home completions, playing a key part in helping to address the UK's acute housing shortage.”

Head of European real estate at Blackstone, James Seppala, added: “Institutional private capital can play an important role in providing high quality housing stock across the UK, particularly in the private rented sector which is significantly undersupplied today.

“Partnerships such as these can meaningfully accelerate the delivery of new homes and help alleviate structural undersupply across the sector.”

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