Build-to-rent offers many commercial advantages

Colliers International is offering already completed and leased residential buildings at May Rd, Mangere.

Investors in residential property typically have to build their portfolio one house or apartment at a time — until now.

An opportunity is available for investors to acquire a residential investment with all the attributes of commercial property, including long leases and minimal management involvement.

That way they get the best of both worlds, benefitting from residential rental and capital appreciation, while enjoying passive income.

Colliers International is offering 19 already completed and leased residential buildings on two huge sites for sale, one in May Rd, Mangere, and one in McKenzie Rd, Mangere Bridge.

In total these accommodate 171 studio units, which have been virtually 100 per cent occupied since opening in 2016.

Each of the 19 buildings comprises nine studio units. Each building is head leased, with one lessee having all the land and buildings at May Rd and another lessee all the land and buildings at McKenzie Rd. The lessees are responsible for all operational matters.

The vendor, Du Val Group, also manages the lessee entities, and has done so since opening three years ago. They pay rent totalling $1,767,000 per annum on leases which expire in 2026, but with rights of renewal to 2037.

Alan McMahon and Chris Farhi, from Colliers' team in Auckland, specialists in build-to-rent (BTR) matters, are offering the properties for sale, with a closing date of August 20, if not sold earlier.

"There has been a lot of talk about the potential of the build-to-rent sector, but this is the first real investment opportunity to buy purpose-built modern property in Auckland at scale, as far as we are aware," says McMahon.

"Demand is brewing from prospective tenants, particularly in Auckland, for long-term, BTR residential accommodation.

"In essence, an unprecedented combination of factors has come together to boost demand for quality well-managed residential rental accommodation."
McMahon highlights several of these factors:

• Residential sale prices are static but are likely to increase in the medium to long term, exacerbating the unaffordability problem.

• New Zealand's archaic residential tenancy laws, combined with the fact that residential investment has been the retirement fund of choice for individuals, typically with little capital, means that renting has not been pleasant for many tenants.

• Revisions to the Residential Tenancies Act, combined with discouragement of investors through Reserve Bank changes to lending practices, will improve the lot of tenants, but reduce the number of private rentals through traditional channels.

• New supply is constrained by industry capacity, and expensive building and land costs.

• Auckland's population has grown strongly in recent years and is likely to continue to do so.

"For all these reasons, demand will continue to outweigh the supply of accommodation in Auckland in the long-term," McMahon says.

"We can't do much about increasing the number of people who can buy, but we can do something about increasing high quality supply for renters who, even if they want to buy, will never have a 20 per cent deposit."