Raymond Mould returns to build portfolio of UK rented homes

Veteran property entrepreneur Raymond Mould is to launch a company that will invest in privately rented homes, his first step back into the market since he sold his previous company, London & Stamford.

L&S merged with retail landlord Metric Property Investments in 2012, after which Mr Mould left the combined group LondonMetric Property plc.

Mr Mould has a long record in the property industry, first at developer Arlington, which he founded in 1976 and sold to British Aerospace in 1989, and then at Pillar, which he established in 1991 and ran until 2005 when it was bought by British Land.

His latest venture, Newtree Capital, will start with a £40m deal with developer Galliard Homes. The companies will jointly acquire 114 homes in Eltham, southeast London.

London house prices have surged in the past couple of years, up 20 per cent in the year to May, according to the Office for National Statistics. Despite this, Mr Mould said “good opportunities continue to exist in the private rented sector, notably outside the prime core areas of central London”.

The private rental market is booming as home ownership becomes less affordable and availability of council homes for rent dwindles. This year private rent became the country’s second-largest tenure after home ownership.

Almost 4m households live in privately rented homes, and a quarter of tenants are subsidised by housing benefit.

Mr Mould and his new business partner, former hedge fund manager Gerard Griffin, aim to sign further deals to build a large-scale investment platform owning stock in southeast England and the Midlands, according to sources familiar with their plans.

London rents grew 1.4 per cent in the year to June, while rents in the southeast rose 1 per cent, and in the East Midlands they climbed 0.6 per cent, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics last week.

Although his experience is primarily in commercial property, Mr Mould has been involved with the residential sector. While at L&S he built a £200m rented housing portfolio focused on the London market, including 146 homes built at the former Arsenal football stadium in north London.

Newtree Capital was advised on the Galliard deal by Oxenwood Real Estate, Savills and Gerard Nock.