Kanebridge Vies for Institutional Investors to Fast Track Built-to-Rent

Kanebridge Property has announced the appointment of a new chief operations officer who will spearhead the push for institutional investors and private funds looking to get involved with its new build-to-rent offering.

The developer, which is aiming to build 1,800 units in Sydney’s north west corridor, is striving to implement a build-to-rent housing model across three major developments located at Marsden Park, Schofields and Kellyville.

Across the $1 billion worth of new apartments, Kanebridge will be offering long-term rental leases up to five years.

The model will also include options for tenants to upgrade or downgrade to apartments in other developments within Kanebridge’s build-to-rent portfolio without incurring punitive charges.

Build-to-rent has been incredibly slow to take off in Australia compared to markets in the US and UK where it has been well established for over 20 years.

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Kanebridge now hopes to combat the stigma surrounding long-term leasing and “revolutionise how Australians regard renting” through its Premium Leasing service, named Kanebridge Lifestyle Services.

The lifestyle services will include a concierge, drop off and collect dry cleaning, communal cinema, high-speed fibre internet, on-site child-care, an on-site registered nurse and learning centres and study areas for students.

“We believe premium leasing, with five-star hotel-style services, is the only build-to-rent model that will work in Australia,” Kanebridge chief operations officer Matthew Bode said.

Bode, who has lived around the world, will look to emulate the success of build to rent sector in the UK, for the Sydney market.

“We expect that by 2022, we’ll be providing premium leasing housing to thousands of long-term tenants across our north-west Sydney developments and other sites in Greater Sydney,” Bode said.

Build-to-rent models, traditionally involve one landlord, backed by an institutional investor or superannuation fund, owning the entire block of apartments and providing long-term tenancy options to residents.

Kanebridge has a five-year plan in place to roll out the model across the state, starting in Greater Western Sydney.

“Australians look at renting as an inferior alternative to owning a property,” Bode said.

“However, the recent shift in the Australian property landscape and tightening liquidity in the home loan space has colluded to produce the key to unlocking a unique long-term leasing model here.”