Accord Europe Serves as Financial Advisor to Matter Real Estate on £110 Million Recapitalisation
NOVEMBER 2023
New core investment vehicle Matter UK Residential Income Fund created to acquire and hold stabilised build-to-rent assets in the UK market.
LONDON, England (November 13, 2023) – Accord Europe Limited (“Accord Europe”), an affiliate of Accord Group, a global real estate strategic investment and capital advisory firm, served as the exclusive financial advisor to UK-based Matter Real Estate on their £110 million recapitalisation of 560 single-family rental (SFR) units developed and managed by Placefirst, a Matter Real Estate portfolio company. Accord advised on the establishment of Matter’s new long-term core investment vehicle, Matter UK Residential Income Fund SCSp (MUKRIF), which is designed to acquire and hold stabilised UK SFR units.
The fund’s initial transaction includes the acquisition of well-maintained, high-quality units located in five sites across five different English towns, including Leeds, Liverpool, Dudley, Sheffield, and Accrington. Future acquisitions of stabilised assets from Placefirst, as well as from other developers, are expected in the coming years, according to Paul Jackson, Accord Group’s Managing Partner in London.
Placefirst is a SFR market leader in the UK that develops, owns, and operates high-quality, institutional build-to-rent housing that targets underserved rental markets.
Jackson says: “Advising on the establishment of MUKRIF is a prime example of Accord Group’s keen ability to help strategically facilitate the growth of both pioneering developers, like Placefirst, and specialist investors, like Matter.”
Matter Real Estate made its first investment in Placefirst in 2016 and since then, the developer has completed 1,500 homes and has an additional 1,000 homes in various stages of construction. Placefirst developments have a stabilised occupancy of 99% and over the past 3.5 years have experienced annualised rent growth of greater than 5%.
“The recapitalisation of our Placefirst investment through the acquisition of a large portfolio of rental properties by MUKRIF provides a capital infusion, putting the developer and operator of build-to-rent single-family homes on a trajectory for additional growth. Both Placefirst and the investors participating in MUKRIF will benefit in the coming years,” says David Christie, CEO of Matter Real Estate.
The UK suffers from the worst housing imbalance across Europe, with research by Centres for Cities citing that as of 2016, the UK had built the fewest homes over the prior 60 years than any other European nation. This failure has led to a shortfall of nearly 4.3 million homes, compared to if the UK had kept pace with the average new home building of its European counterparts. While the UK Parliament has declared a target of building 300,000 new homes per year, current political infighting and economic realities has prevented reaching that number, as net housing increases peaked in 2019 at 243,000 new homes. The UK needs attainable housing options, as the average home costs 8.4 times median earnings in 2022 and annual rental costs have risen 12 percent in the past 12 months ending August 2023.
Placefirst’s development efforts are dedicated to tackling the housing challenges currently faced in the UK through the target creation of over 12,000 high-quality build-to-rent units, which will be supported by the capital infusion provided by MUKRIF.
ABOUT ACCORD GROUP / ACCORD EUROPE LIMITED
Founded in 2013, Accord Group Holdings LLC (“Accord”) is a global strategic investment and capital advisory firm. With personnel in San Francisco, Chicago, London, Munich, Hong Kong and Seoul, Accord seeks to catalyze GP business plans using a creative, “one-stop shopping” approach that harnesses both strategic capital and global capital advisory expertise to unlock complexity and build long-term enterprise value for sponsors. Accord Group has completed more than $13 billion in transaction activity, with a majority representing cross-border transactions. More information is available at www.accord-group.net.
