Legal & General has agreed a deal with the West Midlands Combined Authority to invest £4bn in the region.
The agreement, L&G’s first with a combined authority, sets out a commitment to a seven-year programme of L&G investment, building on the region’s 2022 investment prospectus.
The 2022 West Midlands investment prospectus, launched in March, provides a range of possible development opportunities across the region which L&G and other investors can invest in. Alongside investment into new commercial developments, the agreement envisages a major contribution by L&G into climate-friendly projects, local communities and social and affordable housing, including build-to-sell and build-to-rent – providing high-quality homes across the range of tenures.
The agreement will also support the region’s target to deliver 215,000 new homes by 2031.
The first scheme for the partnership will be the Junction, a brownfield site in Oldbury which has been empty for more than 20 years. L&G’s investment in the site will see some 234 new energy-efficient homes delivered, of which nearly 50% will be affordable.
Andy Street, mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the WMCA, said: “The unveiling of this £4bn partnership agreement with L&G is a prime example of how the West Midlands is getting on and delivering levelling up. This major investment will help regenerate long-neglected areas across the West Midlands, provide affordable homes in the communities where the need is most felt, and supercharge economic growth in the years ahead.
Street called the deal a “monumental commitment” from L&G, adding: “The scale of the ambition L&G is showing is evident in both the huge sums involved and the breadth of projects envisioned. It is a tremendous vote of confidence in the future of our region from one of the world’s biggest investors. I cannot wait to see this investment rolled out, projects under way, and the lives of our residents changed for the better.”
L&G chief executive Sir Nigel Wilson added: “We have been investing across the UK in partnership with cities and universities for a decade. It’s part of our inclusive capitalism approach and has delivered terrific economic and social results. With Andy and his colleagues as ambitious partners at WMCA, we can take this to a new level.
“The West Midlands economic plan, resources and skills make it an attractive destination for trade and investment from across the world; our role in this is to put UK funds including pension savings to work here so UK savers benefit from UK prosperity.”
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