Heads of agreement for funding have been signed with US real estate firm Investco and a North American Pension Fund. It ranks as one of the most significant build-to-rent deals ever undertaken in the UK.

EcoWorld is developing housing sites in Kew and Barking with a development value of nearly £400m.

The firm was created after Willmott Dixon agreed to sell a 70% stake in its London-based residential development business Be Living to EcoWorld International.

The partnership gave EcoWorld International a presence in 12 sites across the capital with a gross development value of £2.5bn.

These include Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Brent, Bromley, Ealing, Hounslow, Lambeth, Tower Hamlets and Westminster together with one major project outside London, in Woking, Surrey.

Brentford FC stadium development housing plans

The Kew site is located next to the new Brentford Football Club’s 17,250 capacity stadium that is currently under construction while the Barking site is known as Abbey Retail Park, where Bristol based Soilfix is carrying out enabling works.

Planning permission has been secured for both sites and development work has already commenced with construction due to complete in stages from 2020 onwards.

Heng Leong Cheong, Chief Executive Officer of EcoWorld London, said: “This deal highlights the immense opportunities in this emerging sector and represents an important new engine of growth for EcoWorld London and the UK, despite the potential challenges of the current pre-Brexit market.

“Kew and Barking are great locations for  renters in terms of affordability, connectivity and local amenities and we have identified many more of such sites where we can deliver more Build to Rent projects.

“There is undeniably a significant shortage of quality homes in Greater London, in particular homes catered specifically for the rental demographic. We are committed to investing more resources into this market and create great places for people to live, whether you are an owner-occupier or tenant.

“Our Build to Rent business model allows us to scale up quickly and to work on multiple projects concurrently, which means we can provide a substantial volume and variety of much-needed homes in Greater London sooner.”