In summer 2018, Umega provided consultancy advice to the team who completed an acquisition of Edinburgh’s landmark Build to Rent development at Lochrin Quay. Lochrin Quay was the first up-built-and traded PRS investment scheme in Scotland and was the first transaction of it’s kind in the country.

The Development – Lochrin Quay is a development of 113 apartments arranged over basement, ground and 6 upper floors, ranging from studios to 4 bedroom apartments. Completed in 2017, the site lies to the west of Tollcross and Lochrin Basin close to Edinburgh’s core office district and it extends to an area of circa 0.35 hectares. Common facilities include an on site concierge, shared kitchen and dining room, 2 incredible roof terraces, a secure car park and dedicated bike storage.

Our role – Umega was approached by Capita Real Estate to provide consultancy, over an 18 month period to Summer 2018, to help acquire the development on behalf of Aberdeen Standard Life (Scottish Widows Pooled Property Authorised Contractual Scheme). Umega’s consultancy included; advice on tenant preferences, market conditions and rent forecasting. We used our knowledge, expertise and data on Edinburgh’s professional and HMO tenancies to advise on rents (specific to outlook/storey within the building), time to let and overall take-up rates. Umega’s understanding of Edinburgh premium rents, gained from a deep knowledge of Quartermile (where Umega manages over 150 apartments) provided invaluable insight to help the Capita team provide accurate advice to GSA (the developers) and to Aberdeen Standard Life.