Greystar, a US residential investment manager, is about to complete one of the largest build to rent deals in the UK in recent years. In this regard, the firm has agreed a deal for about 900 apartments in London. The development is said to be worth approximately €575 million (£500 million) and concerns Elephant Park located in the south of London. Elephant Park is an innovative regeneration scheme delivered by Lendlease and scheduled for completion by 2030.
The portfolio is co-owned by Lendlease and CPP Investments through partnership. Although talks are at an advanced stage, the transaction has not been completed yet. Nevertheless, due to the headline valuation, the deal has become a landmark UK institutional build-to-rent transaction.
A Signal That’s Worth £500 Million In a Recalibrated Market
At about £500 million for 900 units, this comes to an implied valuation of about £556,000 per apartment (≈€639,000 per unit). At that price, the stock does not appear to be at a broad discount or frothy premium. The strategy reflects a long-term institutional focus on rental income.
The Elephant Park project is a component of the larger transformation of Elephant and Castle into a more compact mixed-use area featuring residential towers, improved public realm, retail integration and strong transport connections. The investment thesis is based on structural demand, demographic resilience and operational efficiency rather than heritage-driven prime positioning. Management will take place under a global operator with platform-level systems. Concentration of 900 units within a regeneration cluster provides both economies of scale and long-term income visibility.
An additional factor supporting the valuation range is replacement cost. Construction inflation, labour shortages and financing constraints have raised the cost of delivering new stock across London. In that context, acquiring stabilised income-producing assets may entail less execution risk than funding new development.
Institutional Rental Housing is Picking Up Steam
These residential properties offer attractive and steady cash flow. A portfolio composed of stable income assets is generally considered resilient. The build to rent model benefits from integrated management systems that optimise operations and reduce tenant turnover.
This reflects the continued presence of global investors in London, supported by transactional evidence. The private rented sector in the UK continues to see structural consolidation among smaller landlords, many of whom face ongoing taxation and regulatory pressure.
Demand for London Rental Buildings
Elephant and Castle has undergone significant change over the past decade and is no longer seen as a transitional zone. It has evolved into a combined residential urban hub and is considered one of South London’s best-connected transport locations. The area includes a significant share of social housing alongside new private developments.
The timing of the deal reflects a broader reorganisation of property pricing. Between 2022 and 2024, interest rate shocks stalled large portfolio trades. However, 2025 saw a rebound in build to rent investment volumes as investors adjusted return expectations, revised underwriting assumptions and returned to long-term residential strategies once valuation clarity improved.
Greystar’s move, against this backdrop, represents a strategic scaling decision. In simpler terms, the deal signals confidence that London’s rental market can deliver steady occupancy and sustainable rental growth despite macroeconomic uncertainty.
A Marker of Capital’s Return to Scale
This potential takeover reflects scale as much as location. A £500 million commitment to a single rental portfolio suggests that global capital increasingly views London’s housing market less as a short-term cyclical trade and more as a long-duration income strategy embedded in structural rental demand. Following a period of valuation uncertainty, higher interest rates and financing stress, this scale of transaction indicates that institutional confidence in the sector’s fundamentals has stabilised and pricing has adjusted to levels capable of attracting large capital. If completed, such a deal would set a benchmark for liquidity and pricing in the UK build-to-rent market in 2026. Rental residential is increasingly positioned as infrastructure-like exposure within diversified real estate portfolios rather than a secondary allocation.
