UK: Legal & General will invest £4 billion in providing housing int he region, working in partnership with West Midlands combined authority
West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Mayor, Andy Street, and Legal & General (L&G) CEO Sir Nigel Wilson have signed a partnership agreement and committed to invest £4 billion in regeneration, housing and levelling up across the West Midlands.
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 programme is designed “to create vibrant, dynamic communities in the region which, by providing attractive environments for people to work, live and play, will further enhance the West Midlands as a driver of UK economic growth”.
The WMCA has signed similar agreements since 2018 with organisations such as Lovell and St Modwen.
The 2022 Investment Prospectus provides a range of possible development opportunities spread across the region which L&G and other investors can invest in. These prioritise creating thriving and more prosperous places and communities, including “corridors” and city and town centre development.
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.
Andy Street, mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the WMCA, said: “The unveiling of this £4 billion 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.”
“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, and I am delighted L&G came to the table and signed such a monumental agreement with us. I cannot wait to see this investment rolled out, projects underway, and the lives of our residents changed for the better.”
Nigel Wilson, CEO at Legal & General, said: “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.”
L&G’s director of Levelling Up, John Godfrey: “Towns, cities and regions across the UK can do much, much better – this is the essence of the levelling up agenda. 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.”
