Legal & General’s
Suburban Build-to-Rent business (LGSBTR) announces that it has signed a
£150m five-year Revolving Credit Facility to finance its pipeline of 1,000
Suburban Build-to-Rent homes.
Backed by HSBC UK, Barclays
and Natwest, the facility will help to address the significant demand for
quality rental housing across the UK, creating the high-quality homes and
communities that enable people to live healthier lives.
The loan follows LGSBTR’s
recent announcement with Cala Homes on the exchange of 107 homes at Buckler’s
Park, Crowthorne, in the South East of England. This was the first forward
funding transaction between LGSBTR and major homebuilder Cala, which are both
owned by Legal & General Capital.
Legal & General’s SBTR
platform creates much needed, high quality family homes in areas connected to
schools, transport infrastructure and key amenities, offering a best-in-class
product, exceptional service as an institutional landlord, and a long-term,
reliable service proposition for customers. LGSBTR homes are designed to
reflect new ways of living post-COVID and features that promote health, such as
exceptional build quality, home offices for flexible working, and access to
more extensive outdoor space. In line with Legal & General’s wider
commitment to sustainability, the SBTR platform will target to be operationally
carbon net zero from 2030.
LGSBTR have also set up a
Healthy Communities Committee, which includes learnings from the NHS Healthy
New Towns programme, to support health and wellbeing throughout the communities
it creates. The committee will ensure that all homes and communities are
designed specifically with health and wellbeing at their core.
Jane
Sullivan, Finance Director of Legal & General SBTR, said: “To have secured a facility of this size in such a
challenging credit environment is testament to the merit of the product that
SBTR is delivering, as well as the strength of relationship with our banking
partners.
“Now
more than ever there needs to be an affordable rental option that provides a
viable choice. At LGSBTR we are determined to meet that need with high quality,
well managed and specifically designed properties. LGSBTR are delighted
to be working in partnership with HSBC UK, NatWest, and Barclays, with this
loan facility being the vital next step in helping us to deliver our mission:
addressing the shortfall in high quality, affordable rental properties.”
David
Reid, Managing Director of Legal & General SBTR, said: “Committed to
creating sustainable and healthy communities for our customers, we have
established an internal Healthy Communities Committee, recognising the homes
and communities we create can play a significant role in addressing health
inequalities in future. This Loan facility will support this ambition and help
us to deliver a new choice of healthy homes for renters.”
Michael
Goode, Director & BTR Lead - NatWest, said: "We are delighted to support Legal & General in
bringing much needed, high quality, professionally managed accommodation to the
private rented sector. We believe the structural fundamentals will support
single-family BTR in becoming a leading UK investment sector, as has been
demonstrated in more mature rental markets overseas."
Dan
Wright, Head of Housing – HSBC UK, said: “HSBC UK is committed to helping its clients accomplish
their social responsibility goals. The provision of high-quality affordable
housing not only makes good business sense but more importantly will have a big
impact on our communities.”
