In the United States, institutional investors love the multifamily investment sector. Typically owned by REITs, these large complexes are professionally managed, feature attractive amenities and have the ability to raise and lower rents on an annual — and sometimes monthly — basis as demand ebbs and flows. Thus, they can quickly adjust to market changes and provide great, stable cashflow that can be used to hedge inflation and other market disruptions.

In the United Kingdom and continental Europe, however, this is an almost unheard of institutional sector. The reasons are many, but generally there just aren’t very many (any?) large-scale professionally managed residential complexes — and size and management are the keys to turning a standard residential investment property into an institutional-grade residential investment.

But that might finally be changing. During the past couple of years, all eyes have been watching the dealings surrounding London’s