In early-June this year regeneration specialist Sigma Capital Group announced the expansion of its existing Private Rented Sector (PRS) agreement with Gatehouse Bank. The agreement is now targeting the construction of 10,000 new rental homes in the UK to create a £1bn PRS portfolio.

Edinburgh-based Sigma said the new agreement is an extension of the 2013 agreement, for a potential £700m overall joint venture over four years to deliver 6,600 new PRS homes, upgraded to a potential £1bn over five years to deliver 10,000 new homes.

The new agreement is based on the success of the £106m first phase development targeting 927 new homes across 14 sites in Greater Manchester and Merseyside. Phase one development, which commenced in November of last year, is said to be ahead of schedule with a quarter of the units already built or under construction.

Less than a week later Sigma reported another exclusive agreement for new PRS homes, this time in Sheffield. Sigma has entered into an exclusivity agreement with the Sheffield Housing Company (SHC) for the provision of more than 2,300 new PRS homes across seven popular neighbourhoods in Sheffield. This agreement brings another major English city into Sigma's pipeline for PRS and is in line with the Group's objective of building a substantial PRS portfolio across multiple sites in the UK, focusing on the major cities outside London.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sigma and SHC will work together over the next three years to deliver two, three and four bedroom homes for private rent. These will be on either stand-alone PRS sites or on mixed tenure sites comprising PRS, 'private for sale' homes and affordable rental homes.

Market comment
Sigma Capital Group was formed in 1996. I start by asking the Groups CEO, Graham Barnet, if the focus has always been on the PRS or whether it is a recent transition.