Legal & General expand its Build to Rent offer with second site in Birmingham
Legal & General announces, on behalf of its Build to Rent Fund (BTR Fund) and Access Development Partnership (a joint venture between Legal & General Capital and PGGM), that it has agreed the funding of a £100 million development site at Hockley Mills, within the Jewellery Quarter Conservation Area in Birmingham town centre.
Marking the 16th BTR site and second in Birmingham for the Legal & General BTR Fund, the Hockley Mills development takes its total investment in the sector to £2.1 billion.
As Covid-19 drives secular changes and a fundamental rethink of many areas of the real estate sector, BTR has continued to deliver a stable income return throughout the crisis. The national lockdown, and subsequent social distancing measures, have had a significant impact on economic activity. For BTR, rent collection levels remain high with Knight Frank estimating that 95% of rent in the BTR sector was collected in Q2. Furthermore, many BTR assets - including the site at Hockley Mills - are well placed to benefit from some of the household behavioural trends and preferences emerging through the coronavirus pandemic; namely an increasing need for homes with functional space to work, alongside convenient access to local cultural and leisure amenities.