People Property Place Pavel Streblov, Managing Director and Board Member at Penta Real Estate – Why Penta Is Buying Into London at the Bottom
This week, I sat down with Pavel Streblov to unpack how one of Central Europe's most established private real estate groups is entering the UK market, why London still matters, and what it really takes to build and deliver at scale as a developer in today's environment.
Pavel is Business Director at Penta Real Estate, a privately owned investment group founded by five university classmates, with major interests spanning healthcare, banking, media, and large scale urban real estate. Pavel leads Penta's UK platform and is responsible for its expansion into London, bringing institutional capital, long term thinking, and a developer led mindset into a market facing structural supply constraints.
In this conversation, Pavel explains why Penta chose to expand beyond its home markets in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, how the group reached scale domestically, and why development requires a fundamentally different approach to buying standing assets. We explore why building a credible pipeline matters more than one off success, and how local knowledge, council dynamics, and delivery track record determine whether a developer is taken seriously.
We discuss Penta's first major UK move, a joint venture with Ballymore across two residential schemes totalling around 700 homes and approximately £700 million of development value. Pavel shares how Penta thinks about quality, amenity, and long term ownership, and why entering the market at the bottom of the cycle can create asymmetric opportunity when supply is constrained.
The conversation also goes deep on the UK market itself. Pavel offers a blunt comparison between the UK and the Czech Republic, explaining how stamp duty, transaction costs, and mortgage pricing actively discourage ownership and push local buyers into renting. We unpack Gateway 2, viability pressure, delivery delays, and why flexibility and speed of decision making have become critical advantages in a market full of stalled and so called zombie projects.
We close by looking ahead. Pavel explains how Penta is already using AI in early stage design and option testing, and why being a developer ultimately requires optimism. If you fully price every risk, nothing ever gets built.
Key Topics Covered in This Episode
✅ Why Penta Chose the UK
How scale limits in home markets pushed Penta to expand and why London stood out.
✅ Development Versus Standing Assets
Why development is a long term commitment that requires local conviction and pipeline depth.
✅ The Ballymore Joint Venture
700 homes, £700m of value, and why scale matters from day one.
✅ Ownership, Stamp Duty and Market Friction
Why UK tax structures discourage buying and reshape demand dynamics.
✅ Gateway 2 and Viability Pressure
How regulation and delays are constraining supply and reshaping opportunity.
✅ Zombie Projects and Flexible Capital
Why creativity, speed, and structure now unlock returns.
✅ AI and the Developer Mindset
How technology supports decision making and why optimism still matters.
And of course, I asked Pavel the big question:
Who are the People, what Property, and which Place would you invest in if you had £500 million to deploy?
If you have thoughts or questions about this episode, drop them in the comments. I'd love to hear your take.
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