L&G invests €300m to buy 4,000 new homes

Legal & General (L&G) has secured a portfolio of over 4,000 housing units let to Places for People Homes on a new 50-year lease.

L&G acquired the portfolio for a total consideration of £252 mln (€300 mln).

Places for People Homes will use the new finance from L&G’s investment to expand the housing stock in the UK by building 7,000 housing units over the next seven years. The new housing stock will include affordable, private rented sector and owner-occupier accommodation.

The investment by L&G Retirement is part of L&G’s strategy to increase funds allocated to direct investments and infrastructure. 'These investments provide an excellent match for our long-term annuity and pension liabilities,' the company said in a statement.

'This £252 mln, 50-year investment demonstrates the capacity of institutions like Legal & General to help solve the UK’s housing and infrastructure crisis,' commented Paul Stanworth, managing director of Legal & General Capital. 'At the end of 2013 we had £2.9 bn of direct investments in UK infrastructure. Since the Insurance Action Plan was announced three months ago we have made further direct investments of over half-a-billion pounds.'

The deal represents L&G’s first direct investment into affordable housing and follows its recent announcement that it has agreed a £40 mln, 25-year debt facility to Thames Valley Housing Association, enabling it to build over 500 new units of affordable housing.