Planning, funding and pre-sale at Ilford project

3 December 2015

Ilford residential project to start on site with planning, pre-sale and financing secured

U and I Group PLC (U+I) today announces that it has secured planning permission for the mixed-use redevelopment of Valentine's House, a 1970s office block adjacent to Ilford station in East London. Having previously secured Permitted Development Rights to convert the office into residential space, the planning consent will enable U+I to increase the height of the scheme, adding four storeys to the existing building to create 122 residential units and 16,000 sq. ft. of ground floor retail space.

Simultaneously, U+I has entered into an agreement with IP Global, the international property investment company, for the bulk sale of all 122 residential units. This is U+I's second deal with IP Global, following the pre-sale of 121 residential units at The Deptford Project in South London.

£30.7 million of construction debt has been secured through Quadrant Real Estate Advisors for the redevelopment of the building which is anticipated to start on site in Q1 2016 and to complete in Q4 2017 in time for the opening of Crossrail at Ilford station.

Commenting on today's announcement, Matthew Weiner, Chief Executive, U+I said: "The redevelopment of Valentine's House will transform a run-down, vacant office block into a fully refurbished residential and commercial building for Ilford. Designed by leading architect, Sir Terry Farrell, the building is being refurbished to the highest standards to create a desirable residential product in an otherwise undersupplied market in suburban London. This project further underlines our expertise in regenerating undervalued land and assets in an equity light manner to realise gains and create maximum value for Shareholders."

For further enquiries, please contact:

Lucy Grimble, U+I

020 7828 4777

Martha Walsh, Tulchan Communications

020 7353 4200