Novus joins a growing list of developers in the sector, including Mirvac, which led the charge with its Sydney Olympic Park LIV project, Lendlease, Brookfield and CDL, among others.

Aware Super has already committed $1.5 billion to further build the fund’s residential portfolio to include 1250 affordable housing units by 2025. The fund recently a bought 22 per cent stake in Get Living, the UK’s most experienced and pioneering developer and operator of large-scale BTR neighbourhoods.

The most recent deal is by Dutch investors APG, which is The Netherlands’ largest pension provider, and Bouwinvest, a property fund manager, which are partnering with Scape principals in a joint venture they have called “rent-to-live”, targeting 10,000 apartments by 2030.

Savills director operational capital markets Paul Savitz said, in a report on the BTR sector, that increased investment from both global and domestic capital is needed to make a palpable difference to housing supply and “tackling the inefficiency of taxes and planning could amplify the potential of Australian multifamily”.

“Despite current macroeconomic challenges, multifamily remains a highly attractive asset class given its inflation-matching characteristics and structural tailwinds,” Savitz said.

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These include increased demand among occupants, ongoing supply shortfall, rising migration after COVID-19 and challenges to home ownership, especially in Australia’s major cities.

Novus co-founder and chief development officer Jason Goldsworthy added that the new Melbourne project has been acquired with an existing build-to-sell permit approval for 214 apartments and will go through a modification process to be re-designed into the BTR asset.

He said Novus has further projects in due diligence across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

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