Build to Rent Can Play a Key Role in Helping to Solve the Housing Crisis

1. has circa £1 billion fund to invest and build new large scale rental development properties,
2. has over 1,000 build to rent homes under construction, or in planning, with an initial aim of building over 4,000,
3. has build to rent properties going up in Bristol, Salford and Walthamstow, with future pipeline projects in Bath, Leeds and London, and
4. has its first tenants moving into its Salford build to rent flats in May 2017.

Legal & General’s build to rent strategy will create a portfolio of high quality, long-term residential assets. It will deliver much needed purpose built rental accommodation for tenants, and rental income for pension funds to pay their pensioners. These new homes are required as result of a nationwide shortage across all tenures, as well as changing social and demographic trends, particularly the way people live and work in urban areas. Building rental housing will also create an important economic stimulus for UK urban regeneration areas, delivering new jobs and growth.

James Lidgate, Director of Housing at Legal & General Capital, commenting on the Government’s Housing White Paper said: “It’s great news that the government recognises the important role institutional money can play in the build to rent market. More and more people are choosing to rent, and it’s important they get access to high quality, well managed accommodation, specifically designed for the rental market in urban locations that they want to live. We are clearly supportive of the acceleration of housing delivery, to which we are already committed through investment in modular construction.  We welcome the government’s consultation with industry to bring these new policy announcements forward, in order to ensure that institutional investors, with long-term money can be at the forefront of the solution.”