Wavensmere Sells 262 Single Family Homes to Kennedy Wilson

Wavensmere Homes has exchanged on the sale of a portfolio of 262 single-family homes in the Midlands to global real estate investment company, Kennedy Wilson.
The portfolio comprises 131 homes which are currently under construction at Wavensmere Homes’ £75 million redevelopment of Friar Gate Goods Yard in Derby city centre. 131 houses will also be delivered at the Birmingham-headquartered housebuilder’s £150 million Wolverhampton Canalside South site, where construction work will commence imminently.
Wavensmere Homes’ bespoke product is purpose-designed by Glancy Nicholls Architects for institutional ownership in the rental market. The portfolio, comprising two- and three-bed city centre rental homes with market leading ESG credentials, is being delivered as a fully-fitted turnkey package and is expected to become available for occupation between 2026-7. Designed to an EPC-A specification, each house will have an EV car charging port, together with an air source heat pump and solar PV panels to generate green energy.
The off-plan transaction was brokered by ACRE Capital Real Estate’s Operational Living team.

We are thrilled to announce this significant deal, bringing institutional capital from a major global investor into regeneration sites that had long been derelict in the centres of Derby and Wolverhampton. We continue to see huge demand for eco-focused single-family housing that’s close to major centres of employment, retail and leisure, with extensive healthcare, public transport, and education provision.
This transaction enables us to accelerate our construction programme, delivering homes for local people, whilst supporting local supply chains at Derby’s Friar Gate Goods Yard and Wolverhampton Canalside South. An additional 145 open market houses and apartments at Friar Gate, and a further 450 mixed-tenure homes at Canalside South, will become available in-line with our build programmes.
– James Dickens, Managing Director of Wavensmere Homes
Wavensmere Homes has garnered a strong reputation for urban regeneration and the delivery of major housing-led schemes within city centre and town locations. These homes will offer residents high quality, well-designed and sustainable rental housing in excellent locations within Derby and Wolverhampton. We are looking forward to construction progressing as we continue to grow our UK single family housing platform.
– Mike Pegler, President, Kennedy Wilson Europe
This UK residential portfolio offers prime city centre addresses and exemplary ESG credentials which is reflective of Wavensmere’s high quality developments. These two well-amenitised Midlands locations have the added benefit of the range of on-site communal facilities Wavensmere delivers for residents, such as co-working offices, screening rooms, community gardens, and fitness and play spaces.
– Mark Wilson, Partner at Acre Capital Real Estate
Wolverhampton is seeing a huge amount of investment driven by the council’s compelling vision for the city centre based on better connectivity, more homes, jobs, skills and learning opportunities, and a resurgent visitor economy.
Our work with Wavensmere to bring Canalside South forward is part of our brownfield first strategy to bring life back to redundant sites along our canal network, and through strong collaboration with private and public sector partners, there is more to come.
– City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Development, Jobs and Skills, Councillor Chris Burden
The market in UK residential investment is developing at a rapid rate. We are assisting clients who are both investing in the sector themselves, as well as developing product to satisfy a growing demand. Sophisticated investors demand a high-quality approach in all aspects and these transactions were no exception to this. I want to pay credit to my team who worked closely with those at both ACRE Capital and Wavensmere, as well as multiple other stakeholders, to deliver this deal.
Wavensmere Homes is not just leading this sector, but setting an example of how the housing crisis can be tackled. Whilst some would query the high targets set by Government, the Letwin Review concluded that the best approach was to produce better quality multi-tenure developments, with each tenure having a “critical mass” in terms of its own build rate. By combining the housing typologies that Wavensmere is delivering for Kennedy Wilson with traditional tenures, build rates can be accelerated.
– Jonathan Wright, partner at Knights
The 11.5-acre Friar Gate Goods Yard site – located off the Uttoxeter New Road in Derby city centre – is bringing about the reanimation of two landmark Grade II listed buildings into over 110,000 sq ft of commercial space, alongside the construction of 276 new build homes. Extensive new areas of open space, including play areas and pocket parks are also being installed to help enhance the biodiversity of the site, which became derelict in 1972.
Wavensmere’s £150m redevelopment of Wolverhampton Canalside South will commence in early 2025. The 17.5-acre former industrial site is located within the city centre – moments from the train station and transport interchange – and benefits from frontage onto the Wyrley & Essington Canal and the Wolverhampton Branch of the Birmingham Main Line Canal. The 378 two-and three-bedroom townhouses are complemented by 145 one-and two-bedroom apartments. An additional building of 10 co-living units – each containing six bedrooms – will deliver affordable living typologies to young professionals. The multi-award-winning urban regeneration specialist will also be reanimating the disused railway arches on the site into 1,338sqm (14,400 sq ft) of lettable commercial space.
Wavensmere Homes has 3,500 homes on site, in pre-construction, or planning. The firm is in the final phase of its £106m Belgrave Village development in central Birmingham, and the £175m Nightingale Quarter, which is the redevelopment of the former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary into 925 energy-efficient houses, apartments, and community amenities. The company is also constructing Milford Mills in north Derbyshire and Barrelman’s Point in Ipswich. Further additional landmark schemes are in the immediate pipeline.