Deal, which follows similar with St Modwen and Lovell, likely to see delivery of ‘thousands’ of homes
Insurance giant L&G has agreed with the West midlands mayor Andy Street to invest £4bn in the region over the next seven years in a deal which will see it build thousands of homes.
The deal, which is designed to support the West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) plan to build 215,000 homes by 2031, will see L&G invest £4bn in regeneration, housing and levelling up in line with the region’s 2022 Investment Prospectus.
L&G said the first project to benefit from the commitment will be a 234-home brownfield scheme in Oldbury called The Junction, which will be built out with just under 50% of the homes affordable. The firm said it was not able to say exactly how many homes will be produced under the deal, which will also support commercial development projects, but a spokesperson said it was reasonable to expect that it would pave the way for “thousands” more houses.
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L&G has already put money into a number of major developments in the West midlands, including two build to rent schemes in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, delivering 600 homes, and claims to be the biggest provider of affordable housing in the region.
A spokesperson for the firm said the £4bn commitment referred entirely to “new” money, rather than money already spent or committed.
The deal follows a similar agreement by the WMCA with St Modwen, to deliver 5,000 homes, and with Lovell, to deliver 4,000.
Cllr Mike Bird, WMCA portfolio holder for housing and land and leader of Walsall Council, said the investment will be “an incredible shot in the arm for the West Midlands” as the region continued its recovery from covid crisis.
L&G’s director of levelling up, John Godfrey, said: “This framework agreement with the West Midlands enables political will to combine with financial resource so policy intentions become deliverable realities. We fully expect this to be an exemplar of what can be achieved with the right mix of devolution and determination.”
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