An £82.7 million Build to Rent deal in North London has been agreed by M&G Real Estate and house-builder Redrow Homes.

It marks M&G Real Estate’s third Build to Rent transaction of 2018 and will see the property investment firm acquire 186 new homes at Redrow’s Colindale Gardens development in Colindale, North London.

This latest tie-up, made on behalf of the M&G UK Residential Property Fund, follows other projects across the UK alongside Crest Nicholson, Durkan Homes and Telford Homes.

The deal will fund the delivery of one, two and three-bedroom homes in the Colindale Gardens development, a £1.2 billion ‘new community’ being created by Redrow on the site of the former Peel Centre Metropolitan Police training college. Over the next ten years, the development is set to see over 2,900 new homes built.

Completion of the Build to Rent units is earmarked for 2021, and forms part of a wider strategy to meet the strong demand for rental homes in the ‘Burnt Oak and Colindale Opportunity Area’, which aims to build some 12,500 homes over the next ten to 15 years.

The building’s residents will benefit from a lounge and communal area, landscaped gardens and an on-site services manager, while the site – set across 48 acres – is being designed to prioritise extensive green space. Nine acres of the Colindale Gardens development will be dedicated parkland, with a number of sports pitches and play parks also planned.

Once fully up and running, the development will also offer residents and the wider community the chance to enjoy an array of shops, restaurants and cafes. What’s more, the scheme has access to a number of transport links, with Colindale Underground station a five-minute walk away.

“This new deal with another top UK house-builder increases our ongoing development pipeline, offering our investors the opportunity to continue capitalising on the UK’s rapidly growing private rental market,” Alex Greaves, ‎head of residential investment at M&G Real Estate, said.

“We look forward to continued deals of this stature in the sector, providing investors with the chance to increase their exposure to the residential market.”

He added: “This development is a clear statement that renting can be the tenure of choice for an upwardly mobile workforce, which requires the flexibility of renting with high-quality service and support. Colindale has emerged as a property hotspot and is an area undergoing major transformation.”

Mark Parker, managing director at Redrow Homes East London, said the deal was another exciting step forward for Colindale Gardens and Redrow as ‘we look to create a diverse and sustainable community that offers a range of housing for a diverse mix of Londoners’. He also noted that the wider area is fast becoming a hotspot for families and young professionals and said Redrow’s development ‘will offer all the attributes which customers prioritise, including excellent connectivity, green open spaces and an abundance of amenities on their doorstep’.