- UKO has acquired its 16th asset in Sydney since 2018
- UKO is a rental asset property management specialist
- Currently, UKO has a pipeline of over 1,500 apartments
UKO, a leading build to rent and co-living operator, has announced the acquisition of its 16th asset in Sydney in just four years, as it embarks on an ambitious national expansion.
This has been achieved despite being a relatively niche sector and Covid-related disruptions for more than half of that time.
Locations, where sites have been acquired, include Camperdown, Newtown, West Ryde, Top Ryde, Surry Hills, Kensington and Ultimo.
“Our number one focus for UKO is around building a thriving community within our sites with our ‘community host’ who is trained to deliver the best possible experience to their customer – the renter,” said co-founder Rhys Williams.
UKO specialises in rental asset property management specialist, from 50 to 250 units held in one line by private developers, high net worth owners and institutional property funds.
20 years in the making
Currently, UKO has an additional pipeline of 1,500 apartments under various stages of development nationally. These projects are slated for completion by mid-2024.. Averaged out, one property will be opened per month.
“We focus on working with developers and landlords who are not operators and we have proven we can enhance returns beyond a typical property manager,“ added Mr Williams.
“We draw on 20 years of experience in the serviced apartment sector under the Veriu/Punthill brands. There are some great crossovers between our businesses.”
“A properly trained UKO community host can deliver excellent outcomes for the customer while at the same time offering the landlord the commercial benefits of absolute focus when it comes to revenue management, asset management and financial reporting supported by the UKO brand.”
Rhys Williams, UKO Co-Founder
The team recently developed and opened the first micro-apartment hotel in Australia – housing 144 units – in Green Square, in a joint venture with Charter Hall.
Belong Technology, a proptech app for communities and property management, supports UKO. Belong is designed to counter loneliness in apartment living by facilitating fitness and kids playgroups, and even business networking.
Mr Williams concluded by reiterating landlords are pleased with the returns.
“As we learn more about our business, we are getting very interested in maximising yields between co-living and build-to-rent apartments for our landlords.”
