Resilient performance drives strong Get Living trading performance

• Total revenues up 148% to £246 million, driven by strong rental demand and sale of University of the Arts London (UAL) building
• Sustained growth sees rental income pass £100 million for the first time to £106.9m
• Group occupancy remains resilient at 97.5%
• Established pipeline with new developments on course for delivery this year

Get Living, one of the UK’s leading build-to-rent operators with a £2.6bn portfolio comprising c. 4,000 homes, announces its financial results for the 12 months to 31 December 2023.

Total Get Living revenues for the year were £246 million – up 148% on 2022, driven by continued strong demand for rental property, a first full year of trading at Portlands Place at East Village, Stratford and New Maker Yards, Salford, and the sale of the UAL building at Elephant and Castle.

A disciplined approach to operational costs saw adjusted EBITDA increase by £20.9 million to £52.7 million and annual rental income pass £100 million for the first time to reach £106.9 million.

Continued careful management of overhead costs resulted in a gross profit of £110.2 million (2022: £63.2 million).

During the financial year Australian pension fund Aware Super acquired a 22% stake in Get Living, representing a vote of confidence in the UK’s build-to-rent sector and Get Living’s pre-eminent status.

Get Living chief executive Rick de Blaby said: “The UK’s housing crisis has been well documented. Between the market for owner occupation and the market for affordable homes stands the provision of market rented housing, a market that for some time has not been fit for purpose. This is where Get Living and the build-to-rent sector become an important part of the solution, especially as buy-to-let landlords increasingly exit the market at a time of growing demand.

“The dynamics of how we live are changing. People are demanding a new, fairer way to rent and live, in which connections can be made and communities formed, and we believe we are in the best position to deliver it.

“According to Savills, up to one million new homes will be needed to accommodate rental demand by 2031, requiring £250 billion of investment. The opportunity in the sector therefore is immense and the pioneers will be the ones that achieve real scale. The opportunity is not without challenge as we and others adjust to an era of higher interest rates and other barriers to delivery, however Get Living now has ten years of experience and efficiency and are well placed to continue growing and delivering the new homes across the UK that are sorely needed.”

In the short-term, challenging market conditions across the property sector contributed to Get Living incurring a downward revaluation of its portfolio to £2.55 billion (2022: £2.73 billion); this coupled with a provision against the potential cost of funding Fire Safety remediation at East Village has meant a £386.2 million net loss for 2023.

A First Tier Tribunal Ruling ordered Get Living and one of its subsidiaries to pay some of the fire remediation costs in relation to a plot of East Village but expressly acknowledged that Get Living was not at fault in this case, given that it did not design, construct or develop or even own East Village at the time of delivery.  Get Living has appealed the judgment.

Other highlights include:

• Occupancy at year end was 97.5%, with an average Google Review across operational neighbourhoods of 4.6 stars.
• An increase in overall revenue was driven by rental growth in addition to the £94.7 million sale of a new academic building to UAL, and a subsequent development agreement with the university, at Elephant and Castle.
• The balance sheet remains strong, with £1.08 billion of net assets, a 53.2% aggregate loan to value ratio and weighted average maturity of debt of six years and an average cost of debt of 3.7%.
• In the year, Get Living successfully refinanced its Portlands Place scheme at East Village, agreeing a £150 million deal with PGIM Real Estate.

In 2024, the business is focused on delivering growth:

• Development activity continues apace. In 2024, Get Living will be opening its new neighbourhood in Lewisham, south-east London, which will have 649 homes; 106 of which will be affordable, and over 87,000 square feet of commercial space, bringing new retail and leisure brands to the area.
• A major new mixed-use destination at Elephant and Castle in south London is on track to open in 2026, and is one of the capital’s major regeneration projects. Once complete, the development will bring almost 500 new rental homes; of which 172 will be affordable, 135,000 sq ft of shops, restaurants, cultural and leisure space, 55,000 sq ft of workspace and a state-of-the-art new campus for UAL.
• Get Living’s development pipeline outside of the REIT includes projects in Maidenhead, Birmingham and Leatherhead, all of which will come to fruition in 2024 and 2025, delivering a further 1,194 homes.

De Blaby continued: “Our development pipeline is set against a well-documented demand/supply imbalance for good quality rental homes, and it is unlikely that this will change in the medium to long term.

“The forward-looking outlook is beginning to feel more positive, but as the era of cheap money has ended it is those businesses that have a clear proposition, a deep pool of demand, and are led by talented and committed teams that operate efficiently and innovatively, which will prevail and prosper.

“Get Living is in that position, with a unique resident proposition centred around having the freedom to discover new places, make connections and have more time for living.”

– Ends –

Read the full 2023 Annual Report