LGC and PGGM acquire Bristol site for build-to-rent development

Legal and General Capital (LGC) and Dutch pension fund manager PGGM have acquired a development site in Bristol for their joint venture to build properties for the UK private rental sector.

The cleared site was bought from London-based developer Square Bay for £4.8 mln (€6.2 mln) and comes with planning consent for 168 one, two and three-bedroom homes above 1,070 m2 of commercial space.

The site will be managed by LGIM Real Assets on behalf of LGC, with completion expected in the autumn of 2018.

LGC and PGGM are investing an initial £600 mln in the joint venture, with a target of building more than 3,000 homes across the UK. The strategy for the scheme is develop to hold, with the aim of securing strong returns in a market where institutional investors are currently under-represented.

James Lidgate, director of housing at LGC, said: ‘This latest acquisition supports our ambitions to increase our direct investment exposure to housing and create build to rent as an institutional asset class, investing Legal & General’s balance sheet capital to achieve high-quality risk-adjusted returns.’