British Land has sold half of the Canada Water masterplan, its landmark, controversial programme to build up to 4,000 homes in Rotherhithe, to an Australian pension fund for £290 million.
The deal with AustralianSuper, which gives the overall 53-acre project a value of £580 million, should speed up the building works, British Land said. The first phase of building, funded by £201 million from both companies, is due to finish between July and September of 2024.
AustralianSuper is one of the country’s largest pension funds, with £140 billion in assets under management. The fund already has £7 billion invested in the UK, with stakes in Heathrow, the King’s Cross redevelopment and Peel Ports on the Medway river in Kent.
British Land and AustralianSuper will form a joint venture that will pay out fees to British Land for carrying out the building work, according to the terms of the deal.
AustralianSuper’s head of international investments said last month that it planned to invest a further £12 billion in the UK over the next five years, including in “high-quality sustainable mixed-use real estate investments”.
Damian Moloney told the Financial Times that the UK was an “obvious choice” for investment, given its “deep pools of talent”, favourable legal and regulatory environment, “like-minded partners” and “strong cultural fit”.
The Canada Water masterplan was given outline planning permission by Southwark Council in May 2020 – a decision that was subjected to an unsuccessful legal challenge by a group of Rotherhithe residents over light concerns and fears of a loss of green space.