London & Quadrant Housing Trust (L&Q) has completed the sale of its private rented sector business to an investment fund managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) in partnership with Ridgeback Group for £1,045m.
The sale of L&Q PRS Co, which trades as Metra Living, is part of L&Q’s long-term strategy to simplify its organisation and prioritise its core purpose as a social housing provider.
Metra Living owns and manages a portfolio of circa 3,200 homes within Greater London and the sale includes the transfer of the firm’s operational platform, team and its £300m of external debt facilities.
Fiona Fletcher-Smith, group chief executive of L&Q, said: “The sale of Metra Living is a key milestone in delivering our long term strategy, and we’re extremely pleased to have reached this agreement with MSREI. We’re proud to have grown a successful PRS business since 2015, but we have a clear strategy to simplify our business and focus on our core purpose as a social housing provider.
“This sale further strengthens our financial resilience, supporting our long-term drive to invest in new and existing homes across Greater London and Greater Manchester. Recent government measures have brought much-needed investment and financial certainty to the housing sector. This sale puts us in the strongest position to maximise these opportunities, and deliver our strategy from a position of financial strength.”
Shamik Narotam, managing director of MSREI, added: “We are pleased to complete this transaction with L&Q and to partner with Ridgeback on the acquisition of Metra Living. Metra Living is a high quality, scaled platform in a supply-constrained London market, and we look forward to building on its strong foundation and supporting its continued growth.”
George Bossom, partner at Ridgeback, said: “We are delighted to complete this acquisition with MSREI. This investment further reinforces our conviction in the UK PRS sector, where strong structural demand and a continued shortage of high quality rental housing support attractive long-term fundamentals.”
Simon Williams, head of alternatives capital markets at BNP Paribas Real Estate, which along with BNP Paribas advised L&Q on the sale, added: “This is a hugely significant transaction in the current market that demonstrates the depth of investor appetite for high quality, income-producing residential assets. Portfolios of this scale and quality rarely come to market and the highly competitive sales process reflected the strength of conviction among global capital seeking a significant exposure to London’s private rental housing market.”
Richard Choi, head of UK real estate advisory at BNP Paribas, said: “Partnering with L&Q on this landmark transaction has been a real privilege. Delivering a result of this scale in today’s markets underscores our commitment to our clients and reinforces the strong long‑term outlook of the UK private rented sector.”
