L&G and NatWest to invest £500m in later living
Legal & General has agreed a joint venture partnership with NatWest Pension Trustee Limited to invest £500m of equity in later living developments.
The jv will funnel the finance into L&G’s aims to bring forward 5,100 homes, with a value of £4bn, through its developer Inspired Villages.
Inspired Villages was established by the Inspired management team and Legal & General Capital, the group’s alternative asset platform.
Legal & General has agreed a joint venture partnership with NatWest Pension Trustee Limited to invest £500m of equity in later living developments.
The jv will funnel the finance into L&G’s aims to bring forward 5,100 homes, with a value of £4bn, through its developer Inspired Villages.
Inspired Villages was established by the Inspired management team and Legal & General Capital, the group’s alternative asset platform.
As part of the 15-year partnership with NWPTL, L&G has sold a 50% stake in the first 11 sites, which has been valued at £300m. L&G will reinvest the finance back into the business.
Inspired Villages currently has six operational villages with 919 residents, and four sites under construction. The sites are largely around the South East, including schemes in Surrey, Bedfordshire and Kent. In total, the jv has committed to back 34 sites in a £4bn portfolio, providing housing for some 8,000 residents.
NWPTL has committed to acquiring all the completed, fully-occupied villages outright and will place these assets in an operational fund, to be managed by Inspired Villages. As this grows, it will create an investment platform with the potential to add other pension funds to invest in mature assets at scale.
Robert Waugh, chief executive of NWPTL, said: “The investment potential of the later living sector is substantial as the need to support our ageing population increases. This new partnership with Legal & General and Inspired Villages aligns perfectly with our ambitions to invest in areas that present strong social and environment credentials, while offering a good match for our long-dated liabilities.”
Laura Mason, chief executive of Legal & General Capital, said: “This transaction is unique as it sees one of the largest UK pension funds investing directly into UK private social infrastructure.
“Broadening the range of growth assets that pension money can access is an important step forward for the UK’s growth agenda and economic future, allowing our country’s savings to support the UK in building back better, address climate change and tackle the major issues society is facing. We hope to see further deals like this follow.”
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Image © Inspired Villages
