Elephant developer Lendlease has joined forces with a Canadian pension fund to plough £1.5billion into the build-to-rent sector.
The company’s partnership with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) will see £450million invested in the next phase of private rent homes at Lendlease’s £2.3bn Elephant Park development.
CPPIB will invest about £350million for 80 per cent and Lendlease will invest the balance. Construction has already begun, and the first homes in this phase are expected to be completed in 2020.
Lendlease will develop, construct, and manage the build-to-rent homes on behalf of the partnership.
Dan Labbad, CEO of international operations at Lendlease, said: “In recent decades, structural shifts in the housing market have meant that demand has outstripped supply in the private rented sector, leading to a shortfall of homes in London and across the UK.
“[This] announcement is a logical next step for us as a business and delivers on our strategy to grow our urban regeneration pipeline and accelerate the delivery of much-needed homes, by working with institutional capital partners to launch this new asset class for Lendlease’s investment platform.”