UK: Pegasus Homes has reached the next stage of its transition from a for-sale developer in the later living space, to a later living build-to-rent (BTR) developer and operator.
The company, which is part of the Lifestory Group, announced in 2023 that it had secured a significant investment loan facility with Barclays, to support its growth as a dedicated BTR developer and operator.
CEO Steve Bangs said at the time: “I am very excited to be leading the business through the transition to become the market leading BTR developer and operator in the seniors market. As we prepare for this change, we will continue to offer both home purchase and renting as options across all 26 existing communities available to move into today, before moving to be exclusively Build to Rent.”
This week, COO Chris Powell wrote on LinkedIn: “Today’s gathering of designers and contractors marked the launch of a pivotal phase in Pegasus‘ business evolution. For decades, Pegasus has been dedicated to providing housing for older people, delivering over 1,200 later living apartments across England in the past ten years. About five years ago, we introduced rental options within our communities, and little did we know that we had placed a small snowball at the top of a mountain.”
“Despite the strong British tradition of homeownership, we’ve observed a clear shift in our customers’ preferences towards renting when downsizing. This shift is driven by various advantages such as reduced maintenance, financial flexibility, the ability to pass wealth to family, and adaptability during later life. While renting in retirement isn’t for everyone, it has consistently represented over half of our transactions for the last two years. Looking at broader trends, projections all agree that the older demographic in our population will grow substantially over the next decade. This necessitates a diverse range of housing solutions, with private rental playing a big role. Pegasus’s vision to develop high-quality, lifestyle-focused Build-to-Rent (BTR) accommodation for the 65+ active adult market is now being realised. We aim to lead in this sector and expand our offerings nationwide. We are looking forward to collaborating with our entire team to accelerate this progress,” he added.
