The deal will see the providers acquire 2,915 units once built from the Vistry with a gross development value of £819m.

Greg Fitzgerald, Vistry Group chief executive officer said the landmark deal would advance its strategy to merge its House building operations into its Partnerships business.

The homes will be built on plots located across 70 of Vistry’s developments, with delivery to commence this year and the majority of homes completed within the next two years.

The plots formed part of the Vistry’s former housebuilding landbank and are being pre-sold in-line with the group’s strategy of pre-selling around 65% of all units across the business.

The agreement helps to meet the acute need for housing across the country and is one of the largest new build residential investment transactions on record.

Specifically, the transaction comprises 1,522 units for the private rented sector being delivered to Leaf and 1,393 affordable homes for rent and shared ownership being delivered to Sage, the largest provider of newly built affordable homes in England.

Vistry and Sage intend utilising their existing Homes England grant funding under the Affordable Homes Programme to enable an initial tranche of delivery of both rented and shared ownership affordable homes.

This agreement exemplifies Vistry’s high return, capital-light Partnerships business model.

The Group expects an initial cash receipt of arounf £160m this year, with further staged payments across the development programme.

In addition to releasing significant capital, the secured revenues enable an acceleration of the delivery of units across the 70 sites.

The portfolio is expected to deliver an adjusted operating margin in excess of 12% and a return on capital employed of 40%, in line with Vistry’s medium term financial targets.

Fitzgerald said: “Through our unique Partnerships model, Vistry is maintaining the momentum of delivery of much needed affordable housing across the UK.

“Our strategy gives the group significantly greater visibility on earnings than traditional house builders and this new partnership and others to follow, will help us drive towards our medium-term targets and the delivery of £1bn of shareholder distributions over the next three years.”