Swedish property investment group Heimstaden has bought over 9,500 Dutch homes from British investment group Round Hill for €1.4bn, the biggest deal ever agreed in the Netherlands in terms of the number of properties.

The homes are spread throughout 135 different local council areas and generate annual rent of some €76m.

The deal means Heimstaden is now the third biggest private housing owner in the Netherlands, the company said in a press release.

‘The Netherlands has for some time been an obvious market for us to enter and after our first acquisition in October 2018, we have been dedicated to finding new potential acquisitions,’ said CIO Christian Fladeland.

‘This portfolio gives us a unique position with significant exposure to a very favorable housing market with strong macroeconomic fundamentals and significant national shortage of apartments.’

Heimstaden will focus on upgrading the portfolio while focusing on the market and reasonable rents, Fladeland said.