Legal & General has co-invested with Dutch asset manager PGGM to buy a 324 build-to-rent (BTR) scheme in Scotland.
The UK insurer bought the scheme at the Buchanan Wharf regeneration area with Legal & General Capital, LGIM Real Assets’ open-ended BTR fund and the €215bn Dutch asset manager.
Legal & General said it will forward fund Drum Property Group to the apartments. The development will consist of two 18 storey towers.
Buchanan Wharf represents Legal & General’s first BTR scheme in Scotland and fourth acquisition in Glasgow over the last 12 months.
This latest scheme will bring Legal & General’s BTR portfolio to 3,700 homes across the country, with plans to have 6,000 in planning, development or operation by the end of this year.
Dan Batterton, the head of BTR at LGIM Real Assets, said: “With Glasgow predicted to continue to see notable population growth, this latest acquisition is another great example of Legal & General investing in an area with significant urban regeneration potential and providing large scale sustainable rental schemes which will have a positive long term socio-economic impact, delivering much-needed homes.”
In 2016, PGGM joined Legal & General’s direct investments arm in a partnership to invest £600m (€678.7m) in the construction of 3,000 homes in the UK.
Mathieu Elshout, a senior director of private real estate at PGGM, said: “As a responsible investor of Dutch pension capital, it is our ambition to build long-term partnerships with prominent UK real estate players to invest in sustainable developments.
“Our growing BTR venture with Legal & General is delivering on this goal, adding quality stock within key regeneration hotspots across the UK.”
Paul Miller, the MD in charge of principal investing at Legal & General Capital, said: “We are delighted to be making our first build-to-rent investment in Scotland as part of our ambition to tackle the housing shortage all across the UK.”
Miller said Scotland, and Glasgow, in particular, has been a key target for Legal & General as part of its future cities initiative.
”We are excited to be bringing a long term sustainable rental scheme to the area to meet the demands of this vibrant and fast-growing city.”
