Build-to-rent operator also sees rental income grow sharply as portfolio approaches 4,000 homes
Build-to-rent landlord and developer Get Living has seen its pre-tax profit nearly triple in 2022 on the back of a rise in rental income and a revaluation of its nearly 4,000-strong portfolio of homes.
Get Living, which owns the East Village development on the former Olympic Park among several major build to rent schemes, reported pre-tax profit for the 2022 calendar year of £152m, up 161% from the £58.3m reported in 2021.
The increased profit came on increased revenue of £99.2m, a rise of 40% on the previous year, of which £83.4m came from rental income. However, the bulk of the profit was driven by a re-evaluation of the firm’s property holdings, which added a further £136m to its bottom line in the year.
The firm said the increased rental income was a result of the completion and occupation of 289 new homes in its New Maker Yards scheme in Salford and the latest 524-home phase of East Village, known as Portlands Place. Get Living said it now had 3,918 operational homes in its portfolio, up more than a quarter on the previous year.
The increase in the property valuation to £2.73bn was a result of capital investment in the property portfolio of £146m, according to the company’s accounts, offset by £10m of borrowing costs.
The firm, which has plans for 650 further homes at its Newton Place scheme in Lewisham, and 485 homes at a new Elephant & Castle town centre scheme, said it had a total of 6,500 homes in its development pipeline.
The results announcement comes after last month’s news that Australian pension fund Aware Super had bought a 22% stake in the firm from previous owner Qatari Diar.
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Rick de Blaby, chief executive, Get Living, said the results were a reflection of the success and operational scale that Get Living had built following its investment in the former athlete’s village. He said in the firm’s accounts that the revaluation of the property portfolio was a validation of the firm’s business model, coming as it did in December, “when all real estate assets were coming under pressure from macro headwinds. The BtR sector appears to have been among the most resilient and the Get Living portfolio one of the most resilient within that sector”
He said: “At a time when London and the major urban centres are competing for talent to drive growth, companies like Get Living and those within the growing build to rent sector can be part of the solution to help drive the UK recovery and performance that everyone seeks.
Referring to Aware Super’s investment, De Blaby said: “This substantial backing of Get Living is a huge vote of confidence in our business and the wider sector, giving us real firepower to drive ambitious growth plans for all our stakeholders.”
De Blaby added in the firm’s accounts that the government’s recent abandonment of local housing targets was likely to lead to “a significant under delivery of new homes for the foreseeable short-term”, at the same time as “the delivery of new affordable housing stock by the Housing Association sector is also seeing a marked slowdown.”
“The housing sector therefore is in transition, and in it lies opportunity. As the original pioneer, Get Living is well placed to expand its model,” he said.
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