Water Lane, Leads

Heim Global Investor Partners with McLaren Living and Makes Its First UK Investment in Leeds

Heim Global Investor has announced its first UK investment, a 375-home build-to-rent development, partnering with McLaren Living, the residential developer with a focus on build-to-rent and co-living.

Known as Water Lane, the development is in the South Bank regeneration area of Leeds.The investment is being forward funded by Heim, with McLaren Living acting as developer, and with strong support from West Yorkshire Combined Authority.Construction has begun onsite, with completion expected in early 2027.

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Heim, the European residential specialist investment manager announced in April that it had launched anew closed-ended UK residential build-to-core fund targeting £800m of equity commitments which plans to develop 5,000 new mid-market rental homes across the UK. Now Heim can announce its first investment, the 375-unit residential development Water Lane in Leeds.

The development marks the first investment, brought forward by UK living specialist developer McLaren Living, combining McLaren’s residential and local expertise with Heim’s expertise knowledge of the residential sector. Water Lane is being built by HG Construction.

The site is in the heart of the South Bank regeneration area, a 10-minute walk from the city centre.Significant public and private sector investment is facilitating the development of the area with 8,000new homes and over 1 million sq ft of commercial space. The new homes will consist of two buildings up to 26 stories, with completion expected in January 2027. The development is being fully funded byHeim, with grant support from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority's Brownfield Housing Fund.

UK Investments at Heim Global Investor, Christian Birrell comments:

We are thrilled to announce our first investment for our UK build-to-core fund in Leeds. This project is just the first of many projects we plan to deliver, as we develop a 5,000+ unit portfolio targeting midmarket rental homes across the UK’s key cities. Leeds is a strong city with an undersupply of affordable rental homes, and we are delighted to be working with such a strong development partner in McLarenLiving. Water Lane marks the first investment in our UK fund, and we are currently looking at an interesting pipeline of deals across the UK.

Matthew Biddle, Managing Director, McLaren Living, said:

This is a pivotal moment for Water Lane, through our trusted partnership with Heim we’ve secured forward-funding for a major build-to-rent development in Leeds City Centre. The best locations and cities across the UK Build-to-Rent continues to be a resilient sector and we are committed to working with our partners to deliver our strong pipeline of projects.

Oliver Westray, Development Director, McLaren Living, added:

Working with Heim as our funding partner we are excited to deliver high quality and much needed new homes in one of the UK’s fastest growing cities. We are creating a new quarter in a thriving city and we anticipate receiving strong rental demand for our high-quality experience-led living.

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About Water Lane, Leeds

• 375 units across two connected blocks ranging from 12-26 stories
• Unit layout: 200x1-bedrooms, 139x2-bedrooms, and 36x3-bedrooms
• 46 parking spaces and +250 indoor cycle parking
• Planned completion in January 2027

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Heim Global Investor – Residential Investment Manager Targeting Europe

Heim Global Investor is a specialised investment manager investing in Europe’s dynamic and growing living sector. Heim benefits from the operational resources of the Heimstaden organisation having specialist knowledge and experience from growing and managing a pan-European residential investment platform across nine markets with 162,000 homes, €30 billion in assets, 2,000 employees, as well as in-house development of thousands of homes.

Comprising 80 investment and fund management professionals, along with 140 operational residential experts at Heimstaden, Heim is an expert investment manager with in-house industrial competence and track record. Heim boasts a proven team with deep industry expertise and local presence across majorEuropean markets.