Lucian Butnaru, the owner of the SelfPay payment company, has started two build-to-rent projects in northern Bucharest that will target renters in the premium residential segment.

Over the next 10 years, development group Creditas Real Estate plans to invest €1.151 billion in residential construction in the Czech Republic. It wants to build up to 5,500 apartments, of which 1,000 should be for rental housing. The company's CEO Jiří Vajner informed journalists about this.

ECE has launched its inaugural European residential real estate fund and successfully raised equity commitments from renowned institutional investors, including two large highly reputable German insurance groups. With the capital raised in the first closing, the fund plans the purchase of investments with a volume of more than €350 million. Further capital commitments from institutional investors will be raised in the coming months. The strategic partner for the residential build-to-rent investments of institutional investors in the newly launched fund is the specialized Group company ECE Living. It is supported in concept and product design as well as in capital raising by the investment banking boutique Victoria Partners.

Europe’s fundamental mismatch between voracious housing demand and the limited supply is driving massive investment growth in the residential sector and will continue to generate opportunities even amid geopolitical and economic uncertainties, according to a new report by Colliers.

AFI Europe has completed the rough construction of an apartment building in the newly built AFI City district in Prague 9 - Vysočany. A total of 640 apartments are being built on a brownfield site near the Kolbenova metro station, exclusively for rental housing in two separate buildings, which will also include commercial space for shops, services and a restaurant. The construction of the first of them, with 313 units, has just moved towards completion and is successfully heading towards completion in Q4 2022.

Property developer AFI Europe has taken over two plots of land in northern Bucharest, in a deal worth €12 million, for the development of its first build-to-rent residential project. 

Hungary-based residential property developer Cordia is continuing its expansion in the UK residential property market. Its local subsidiary is building a complex of 366 rental apartments, bringing the total number of homes planned for the West Midlands region to over 1,800.

Mint Investments’ residential fund (MINT I. rezidenční podfond SICAV) has entered into an agreement for the acquisition of four apartment buildings in Plzeň-Skvrňany with developer Trigema Real Estate. Construction of the 100 apartments for rent is scheduled to be completed in Q4 2022. The parties did not unveil the transaction price.

AFI Europe has completed the shell of the fifth and final phase of the Tulipa Třebešín residential project which is intended purely for rental housing and completes a large-scale development on a 5-hectare urban brownfield site in Prague 3 - Strašnice. The building will offer a total of 61 residential units with an expected completion date of Q3 2022. The general contractor is Imos Brno. AFI Europe's total investment in Phase 5 will exceed CZK 250 million.

For Germany-based real estate investor and developer Trei Real Estate, 2020 was a successful year thanks to the fact its portfolio mostly includes assets that were hardly affected by the pandemic. Pepijn Morshuis, CEO of Trei Real Estate talked to Property Forum about the experiences gained during 2020, changing financing conditions and the company’s plans for 2021.