Legal & General will be creating over 170 new Build to Rent (BTR) homes in Bath, as part its wider approach to address the UK’s housing shortage, having acquired a city centre development site for £47.5m.
Legal & General now has a total housing pipeline of over 70,000 units, of which 1,200 are BTR homes.
This is Legal & General’s fourth BTR scheme, with existing sites progressing well in Bristol, Salford and Walthamstow.
It has £1bn of firepower to invest in developing new large scale rental development properties which will provide rental income for pension funds to pay their pensioners, and create an economic stimulus for UK urban regeneration areas, delivering new jobs and growth.
Legal & General has invested £10bn in UK infrastructure, with an aim to invest £15bn.
The Roseberry Place development is located on brownfield land in the Bath City Riverside Enterprise Area on the river, which represents the best opportunity to accommodate new development growth in the city.
The site will comprise 171 apartments, 126 car parking spaces and 17,000 sq ft of retail space. It already benefits from outline planning and Legal & General will be working closely with the developer to provide high-quality rental accommodation.
Dan Batterton, BTR Fund Manager at LGIM Real Assets, said: “This acquisition is a prime example of the type of compelling opportunities there are in the market at the moment, as we continue to build our pipeline.
“We are targeting well-located sites where there is the opportunity to influence all aspects of design and construction from the start to create a best-in-class product that will provide a positive lifestyle choice for elective renters.
“We remain on track to deliver on the growth plans for our major Build to Rent platform focused on holding assets for the long-term on behalf of investors.”
The Bath scheme has been acquired by LGIM Real Assets on behalf of its BTR fund, together with its joint venture partnership between Legal & General Capital (LGC), the Group’s principal investment arm, and PGGM, the Dutch Pension Fund Manager. Cushman & Wakefield acted for L&G on the transaction.
