Lloyds Banking Group's (LSE:LLOY) residential landlord arm, Citra Living, has made its first property purchase in Manchester as it continues the rapid expansion of its portfolio to 4,300 homes, over half of which are occupied.
A development of two blocks of 274 flats and two retail store units on Oldham Road, in the New Cross area of Manchester, has been bought from Corebridge Real Estate Investors (AIM:RLE), part of New York-listed Corebridge Financial.
The eight-storey and 10-storey blocks, known as Broadside, were completed in 2020 by Balfour Beatty plc (LSE:BBY) as a 'build to rent' project and are currently all fully occupied, Citra said, meaning it is now receiving rent from 2,500 households.
Citra, which was started up by Lloyds in the summer of 2021, has been boosted by a partnership with Barratt Developments, from which it took its portfolio to above 2,000 this spring and this week agreed a further three-way deal with the government's Homes England agency.
Andy Hutchinson, Citra's chief executive, said: "This acquisition represents another step in the evolution of Citra’s strategy and customer offerings. It adds significant size and choice, in an important location, to our growing portfolio."
He said the business is focused on "additive acquisitions" of houses in development, but the secondary market, where Citra buys existing homes, is "a developing one and one we will continue to explore to broaden the mix of property types and locations we can offer".
Corebridge Real Estate managing director Brenda Monaghan said she was pleased to "realise" the investment in Broadside, which the US company saw as building on its success in its domestic market with a move into European residential property in 2015, where it has invested in 17 properties since.