Southern Grove extends to BTR and co-living sectors

The company has launched Evolution, a premium co-living division and Mast, its new high-end BTR arm.

Southern Grove extends to BTR and co-living sectors

Southern Grove is expanding into the build-to rent (BTR) and co-living sectors.

The company has launched Evolution, a premium co-living division and Mast, its new high-end BTR arm.

Evolution will aim to be a market leader in this space, offering superior accommodation with high-end finishes and a focus on health and wellbeing.

Its schemes will boast chic interiors and a mixture of amenities that will vary by location, but is likely to include gyms, bars, private dining and even cinema rooms.

BTR brand Mast will also replicate the high-end approach to design and build quality that Southern Grove takes across its developments.

Both sectors serve a generation of tenants who are renting for longer, and both Evolution and Mast represent natural extensions to the company’s work in the PBSA sector.

The British Property Federation has previously predicted that the UK’s BTR sector could be valued at £75bn by 2025, while the co-living sector is still at a relatively early stage.

A number of sites have already been identified around the UK that will deliver around 1,000 units under each of the two new divisions for 2021 and 2022, with further announcements to follow in the New Year.

They will be design-led under the direction of Southern Grove’s head of hospitality Tim Barrett who has vast expertise in hospitality, having previously worked for Marriott and Radisson Hotels.

Andrew Southern, chairman of Southern Grove, said: “This is an extremely exciting moment for me personally and the company.

“Entering the BTR and co-living sectors means Southern Grove will have a presence across all the main residential property classes, and a new focus on two of the fastest growing products in the market.

“These two sectors are widely expected to outperform other asset classes over the next few years and we are determined to replicate the success we have enjoyed in the student accommodation sector, where we have supplied a disruptive high-end product and a value proposition that ensures our revenue is protected across economic cycles.”