Tokoro Capital, Homie, GCM Grosvenor form €235m PBSA partnership

Tokoro Capital, Homie, and GCM Grosvenor have teamed up to create a £200 mln (€234.7 mln) partnership focused on acquiring and renovating student housing in the UK.

PBSA housing - Hello Homie

This venture, backed by £75 mln (€88 mln) from GCM Grosvenor, aims to provide more affordable housing for domestic students.
The UK student housing market has seen substantial growth, but rising construction costs and high demand from international students have made traditional, amenity-rich student accommodations (PBSA) too expensive for most domestic students, who make up over 70% of the student population.
As a result, domestic students often opt for houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs) after their first year. The supply of these HMOs is limited by planning regulations, and consistent growth in the domestic student population has led to strong rental growth of 5% annually over the last decade. HMOs also offer the flexibility of converting back to traditional residential use, providing a stable value.
Despite HMOs making up 80% of the investable student housing market, they are mostly owned by private landlords. However, increasing regulatory, environmental, tax, and financing pressures are causing many of these landlords to sell, creating a unique chance for institutional investors to enter this expanding sector.
The partnership has already acquired a starting portfolio of 440 beds, which will establish Homie as a leading institutional manager of student HMOs in the UK, alongside other major players like Student Cribs and the Student Homes Management/Brookfield joint venture.
Max Bassadone, co-founding partner of Tokoro, said: “Sanjay and I have been looking at this sub-sector of the UK student housing market for a long time and aggregated a portfolio under TKO-II, demonstrating our capability both in terms of execution of this investment thesis and building an operating platform. GCM Grosvenor’s conviction in forming this vehicle with us further validates this.”
Tom Ferber, founder of Homie, commented: “We are really excited to partner with GCM Grosvenor to continue the expansion of the Homie platform. HMOs are the go-to housing solution for domestic students, especially in their second and third years, yet the sector remains largely untapped by institutional investors. This additional firepower will strengthen Homie’s early mover advantage in what we believe will be the next wave of institutional student housing investment in the UK.”
Peter Braffman, managing director at GCM Grosvenor, said: “We are thrilled to partner with Tokoro and Homie to expand our European presence into the UK student housing sector. Their clear strategic vision and proven execution capabilities give us confidence in their ability to create value.”