In the first half of 2024, we made significant strides across our Build-to-Rent portfolio. From reducing service charges at Meadow Mill to advancing the construction of Peeler’s Yard and SONA developments, our focus remains on delivering community-driven living spaces. Meanwhile, key initiatives like the CERT Life App are enhancing tenant experiences, ensuring that each project adds value for both investors and residents.

This round-up highlights our achievements and ongoing developments that are shaping the future of rental living.

Property Management

Meadow Mill

CERT secured the estate management for Meadow Mill, a 151,000 sqft development located in Stockport. The development, comprising 213 apartments plus commercial units at ground level, is the latest addition to our estate management portfolio. In a unique position to offer both estate management and individual property management, investor landlords will be able to benefit from having a single company manage the letting of their apartments as well as the overall building management, creating a seamless service and removing the headache of liaising between different entities.

Since our appointment of Meadow Mill, we have reduced the service charge provision by 36%. This included renegotiating the overinflated insurance premium through a competitive tender process. Significant savings were also made – circa 50% – by switching electricity providers and bringing certain compliance checks in-house. This in turn has increased the profitability of the building, with the service charges a liability being covered by the building’s investors.

Innovation

The CERT Life App

Our exclusive Build-to-Rent community and management platform.

Last year saw the design and creation of the new CERT Life App, with beta testing underway during the first half of 2024 – launching the app to 1,000 tenants across 3 commercial buildings.

Developed for our pipeline of in-house BtR projects, the app has been created to enhance the experience of tenants across our buildings, adding tangible value, and further growing the communities in and around the buildings they live and work. The app provides a platform for tenants to interact with each other, receive notifications and updates for the building they reside in, as well as accessing discounts at local establishments from bars and restaurants to gyms, and many more independents. Exclusive to our portfolio, the app will be rolled out across all new BtR schemes upon completion or acquisition, helping improve the tenant experience from both a functional and social aspect, with a strong focus of enhancing the community in and around the building.

For our investors, the app will help reduce OPEX through our digital concierge ability, achieving longer average tenancies and maximising rental levels through community benefits. The app will seamlessly bridge the gap between property management – allowing tenants to raise maintenance requests, whilst connecting them directly to their asset manager, with an unmatched lifestyle platform.

Development Management

Peeler’s Yard

January saw the start of construction works at our Peeler’s Yard site in New Cross, a BtR development of 78 apartments. Originally a former 1800s police station, we were pleased to start works following months of careful design and planning to ensure we create a building that is sympathetic to the history of the site, encapsulating the uniqueness of the perimeter stone wall and creating a feature of the chimney, which will continue to be a landmark of the area for years to come. The reuse of the existing structure also fits our ethos, to minimise waste and carbon output in our developments. 

By the end of June, ground works have largely been completed and preparations for the arrival of the steel frame have been made, which will start to be erected in Q3. 

Cross Keys

Planning was submitted in the first half of the year for our latest BtR development in New Cross, Manchester, a site which sits opposite Peeler’s Yard. Previously a car park, the brown field site will be turned into 10 townhouses and  89 1 and 2 bed apartments, across 9 floors with some apartments benefiting from private terraces and views across the city.

Just a few years ago the New Cross area consisted predominantly of car parks, and is a perfect example of how successfully neighbourhoods can transform through co-ordinated regeneration. We have teamed up with a local architect who has been involved in 3 other developments in New Cross, including Peelers Yard, helping to continue with their overall vision and design for the area.

SONA

Works at our SONA development in Manchester have continued to advance during the first half of the year. A BTR development of 45 apartments which are due to be delivered early 2025, will be let on a co-living basis, by the room. The development has been designed and centered around communal living, with a number of shared amenities for residents, including a residents lounge, a communal co-working area and cinema, all which can be managed and booked via the exclusive CERT Life App.

Committed to reducing the carbon footprint of construction, in addition to energy efficient measures incorporated into the building for the ongoing running of the apartments, we have also utilised a timber frame construction, reducing the embodied carbon footprint of the building at this earlier stage. The external facade is now largely completed, which was showcased with the removal of the scaffolding earlier in the year, apartments on the higher floors are now all complete and works are focused on the ground level which can now be accessed with the scaffolding having come down. This includes the internal atrium and walkways, communal facilities and external works to the pavement and paths.

Once complete the development will attract a variety of tenants, benefiting from the close proximity to both the University of Manchester and Manchester Royal Infirmary hospital, as well as Manchester’s city centre which is just a 15 minute walk away.

Centric

In Liverpool, we have made use of the new permitted development rules, allowing commercial properties to be converted into residential, and submitted our plans to convert a 20,562 sqft stone office building, in the Moorfields financial district of the city centre, into 46 apartments. With planning confirmed, and our contractors, Truman Design and Build, geering up to start onsite in Q3 with a 12-month build, the apartments are set to welcome their first residents in the second half of 2025.

Repurposing a historic building provides an opportunity to be creative with the interior design and layout of the apartments, showcasing exposed features of the original building and creating unique living experiences which will serve to further attract residents to the development following completion. Located opposite Moorfields train station, the location is second to none. Comprised of a limited 46 apartments and with revised love and energy injected into the building, Centric will be a popular choice for those looking for city centre living, offering strong returns to the individual buy-to-let investors of the scheme.

Royal Canal Works

Royal Canal Works is a unique residential development due to the site’s location running alongside the Stretford Canal. Benefit from the regeneration of Stretford just a stone throw away, but in the peaceful tranquility setting of waterfront living, RCW will offer residents the best of both worlds. Added to this, a Metrolink tram station just meters away with a service running every 6 minutes, means residents can be in the city centre in just 13 minutes.

We have designed the site to encompass both apartments and townhouses, taking full advantage of the waterfront aspect which provides each house with their own private terrace leading to the water’s edge. 40 apartments have been pre-sold to a housing trust while 11 townhouses are set to be delivered as part of a suburban Build-to-Rent scheme. The townhouses will benefit from the exclusive CERT Life app as part of our continued beta testing. This will be the first time the app is to be rolled out to tenants in a suburban development, expanding the community and user base to out of city locations. The full scheme is due for completion in the second half of 2025.

The steel frame for the 5 levels across the 2 apartment blocks were erected earlier in the year, with windows now being installed, along with the first fix mechanical and electrical, which has been completed in the apartments. Insulation is now being installed on the external of the walls, ready for the brick facade to be secured.

Viability in the Built Environment 

Planning is a hot topic for Labour’s newly formed Government, particularly with the reintroduction of housing targets on the agenda. Howard, CERT’s Managing Director, and our head of Property Management, Paul, are joined by guest Matt Spilsbury from CBRE, to provide insights into how these political changes may impact the delivery of new homes.

The conversation turned to how viability assessments have evolved to become one of the key elements of a planning application, with stricter guidelines and professional standards, ensuring greater transparency and regulation. Matt shared insights on how this transparency builds trust and standardises assessments, making the process more reliable for everyone involved.

Also addressed were the challenges of stakeholder understanding and the potential need for a new wave of ‘viability superheroes’ to navigate these reforms effectively. Tune in to gain insights into how political shifts are transforming the viability process in development projects amidst economic challenges.