Aussie Fund Set To Make UK Debut Buying Qatar's Get Living BTR Stake

Australian superannuation fund Aware Super is understood to be in advanced talks to acquire Qatari Diar’s stake in UK build-to-rent giant Get Living.

Should the deal complete it would be the investor’s UK real estate debut and would see Qatari Diar crystallise the profits of early investment in the BTR sector.

Qatari Diar initially considered the sale of its 22% stake, estimated at between £400M and £500M, toward the end of last year, before launching a formal process through Lazard in early summer, React News reported.

The company had helped establish Get Living as one of the UK’s biggest BTR platforms, with its portfolio valued at circa £2.4B.

It has around 4,000 operational flats and a further pipeline of more than 6,000, with an ambition to grow to 15,000 homes by 2027. The company owns schemes in Stratford, Elephant and Castle, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Lewisham, Maidenhead and Leatherhead, Surrey.

The sale will also facilitate new investment into Get Living, headed by chief executive Rick de Blaby and chaired by former Savills chief executive Jeremy Helsby, as it grows its pipeline.

Get Living was formed by Qatari Diar and Delancey in 2013 for the redevelopment of the former Olympic Village in Stratford.

In 2014 APG entered the partnership when it folded its holdings in Elephant and Castle into the company and Oxford Properties became a major investor in 2018. In 2020 Swedish pension fund Alecta and German institution Allianz, as well as the Local Pensions Partnership, joined the investors.

Aware Super bought into the European BTR market last year when it bought a 49% stake in Spanish Socimi Vivenio, making a €600M commitment to the company, joining APG as an equal shareholder in a bid to become the country’s leading private rented sector player.

In September, Aware launched Aware Real Estate, a separate division that is aiming to grow from circa £1B to around £3.5B within the next five years.