L&G announces Bath build-to-rent scheme

It will be the investor’s fourth build-to-rent project, with existing sites in Bristol, Salford and Walthamstow totalling a pipeline of 1,200 homes.

The development, named Roseberry Place, is on a brownfield plot in the Bath City Riverside Enterprise Area acquired by Legal & General for £47.5m. Outline planning for the scheme has been granted.

Legal & General intends to invest £1bn in large-scale rental developments in the coming years.

James Lidgate, director of housing at Legal & General, said: “This latest acquisition is in line with our strategy of increasing our direct investment exposure to housing and establishing build-to-rent as an institutional asset class – investing Legal & General’s balance sheet capital, alongside other third party capital, to achieve high-quality risk-adjusted returns.”

The financial services giant has also built a giant housebuilding factory just outside Leeds, capable of producing 2,500 homes per year. A spokesperson confirmed the factory will not be used to build the units at the Bath scheme.