Legal & General and PGGM’s UK build-to-rent (BTR) residential joint venture has invested £57m (€64m) in Leeds.
The Access Development Partnership between Legal & General’s BTR fund and the Dutch pension fund asset manager is funding a development site at Tower Works in Leeds City Centre.
The latest deal follows the partnership’s £100m investment last month to develop Hockley Mills, a 400 apartment scheme in Birmingham.
Dan Batterton, senior BTR fund manager at LGIM Real Assets said: “As Covid-19 drives secular changes and a fundamental rethink of many areas of the real estate sector, BTR has remained largely unaffected. It has delivered stable income returns throughout the crisis, with occupancy, rent collection and demand remaining high.
“In the last four weeks, we have committed £57m to Tower Works, £100m to Hockley Mills in Birmingham, and welcomed the first residents to our Mustard Wharf scheme in Leeds, Box Makers Yard in Bristol and the final phase of The Slate Yard in Salford.
“We continue to invest throughout the UK and demonstrate the need for homes with functional space to work, alongside convenient access to local cultural and leisure amenities.”
Legal & General was advised by global property consultancy Knight Frank.
Adam Burney, partner in the residential capital markets team at Knight Frank, said: “As we prepare for economic recovery, greater investment in the UK’s regional cities - particularly to deliver vital new housing - is needed.”
According to Burney, Knight Frank research shows that more than 60% of new BTR homes either under construction or with planning granted will be built outside of London.
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