The parent company of franchising firm Century 21 UK has signed contracts for the second phase of a large private rented ‘build to let’ scheme.

Shepherd Direct, through its property management arm Central Lettings Solutions, is in partnership with Sigma Capital Group and Gatehouse Bank.

Sigma, backed by investment from Gatehouse Bank, aims to have a £1bn private rented sector portfolio of 10,000 new rented homes over the next five years.

Of the 918 units in phase one, 350 are now complete and being managed by CLS across eight sites in the north-west.

Seven more sites are coming on stream early next year.

Further sites are to be identified in the midlands and the south.

Shepherd Direct acquired the master UK franchise of Century 21 in 2013.

There are currently 48 Century 21 offices in the UK, which should all be able to benefit from the ambitious ‘build to let’ plans of its parent company.

Insiders say that the Shepherd Direct deal, and the acquisition of the Century 21 franchise, is “joined-up thinking”, with very few agency businesses considering opportunities in the burgeoning ‘build to let’ sector which the Chancellor is clearly anxious to expand at the expense of small private landlords.