The Intermediary – October 2025 - Flipbook - Page 54
Round-table.
they’re teaming up with a care home operator,
building out sites and then retaining them
as a long-term income-yielding investment.
“Then in five- or six-years’ time, once they’ve
stabilised, they’ll look to offload them
to a REIT.”
Vishal Dixit, managing director at Propel
Property Finance, sees the next wave of growth as
being outside mainstream residential entirely.
He says: “I predict we will be seeing a shift of
lenders moving into the commercial sector. Data
centres, energy, brown to green office – these are
going to be popular sectors, and care due to the
ageing population and the post-Covid recovery
in sentiment. I’m certainly focusing on different
elements of commercial construction to try and
stay ahead of the curve.”
While the UK will continue to appeal to foreign
investors, Dixit says the much-hyped influx of
“overseas capital” is a mirage.
He says: “There’s interest, but it looks like
people are just waiting and chipping away at the
acquisition price to see what the best offer they
can get is.”
Prime Central London (PCL) agents, traditionally
seen as the bellwether of international wealth,
are struggling.
Dixit explains: “Personally, from looking at
clients that I’ve structured development facilities
for in Mayfair and Marylebone, they’re not selling
as freely as expected.
“The type of asset; unique selling points and
micro location are more important than ever.”
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The Intermediary | October 2025
N E W C L AS S OF AS S E T
Alternative housing models can unlock
value amid land shortages, planning
barriers and shifting market dynamics.
Developers and designers are looking beyond
the usual residential market to find schemes that
still make sense. Lenders are also following the
opportunities wherever they emerge.
“We’ve been seeing a lot of alternative living
solutions and housing products on the market,”
says Jabre. “Co-living is what [Build to Rent (BTR)]
was 10 years ago – the new kid on the block.”
Just as BTR evolved from a niche American
import to an institutional staple, co-living is
maturing from trend to tested model. Demand is
driven by young professionals, mobile workers,
and the growing ranks priced out of ownership.
“We’re designing it with futureproofing in mind,
to maximise flexibility and offer developers a good
exit strategy, if need be,” Jabre says. “Our co-living
accommodation is designed in a way that it can be
converted to residential C3 or Build to Rent as part
of a circular economy approach.”
The Greater London Authority has formally
recognised co-living as a use class in its own right,
complete with design guidance, which has boosted
credibility among both planners and funders. Still,
not everyone is convinced that shrinking the unit
footprint is the solution to Britain’s housing crisis.
Powell says: “Rather than forcing people into
smaller and smaller accommodation, I would argue
that we do have the space to give people a relative
standard of living in traditional housing, but the
