Leading build-to-rent player Grainger plc has received planning permission for its latest development in London, a 163-home site called Apex House in Seven Sisters, North London, it has announced today.

This will bring its total units under management to some 3,600 homes once Apex House is completed. The development is due to start construction next year, cost £60m to build and be ready to rent out in 2020. It will have an initial yield of 6.5% and rental revenues of £3m per annum.

Last year the company launched its first purely commercial build-to-rent development in Barking called Abbeville Gardens and also recently bought a 600-unit development in Salford Quays, Manchester. Grainger has also built and managed residential developments for several councils including Kensington & Chelsea in London.

It now has operations in Newcastle, London, Manchester and Birmingham and has said it aims to be the largest residential landlord in the UK by 2020. It already owns developments worth £2.7 billion and has also launched a new strategy that will see exit operations in overseas markets and participation in the UK equity release sector.

As part of its trading statement for September, chief executive Helen Gordon (pictured) said: “We have seen a strong and resilient performance despite the changes to stamp duty legislation and the EU referendum, and we look forward to providing further details on strategic progress at our full year results in December.”

Letting agents may be less impressed with this performance, nevertheless. Grainger plc, like most build-to-rent operators in the UK, deals directly with tenants and manages repairs and building maintenance using its own teams, rather than employing outside suppliers.

But agents are still used to gain tenants and for example Bairstow Eves, Currell and other letting agents have been playing a central role in renting out much of the company’s Abbeville Gardens apartments in Barking.