Legal & General Affordable Homes acquires 487 homes from council

Another developed plot comprising 213 homes from the Perry Barr Residential Scheme is being retained by Birmingham City Council for council housing, taking the number of affordable homes delivered in the first phase of the scheme to 700 in total.

This is more than double the affordable housing target of 312 set out in the planning application for the entire scheme.

Trowers & Hamlins advised LGAH while Burges Salmon provided legal advice to Birmingham City Council.

Ben Denton, chief executive at LGAH, said: “Our vision is to provide everyone with an affordable, high-quality and environmentally sustainable place to live and grow.

“Our acquisition of the Perry Barr homes shows our commitment to delivering on this and investing in high-quality stock, improving our asset portfolio and achieving improved returns.

“Perry Barr is an exciting opportunity to help create a thriving new neighbourhood that contributes positively towards the local area and supports the council with tackling its housing challenges.”

Jayne Francis, cabinet member for housing and homelessness at Birmingham City Council, said that delivering affordable housing for the city through the Perry Barr Residential Scheme has been a “key priority” for her.

“The number of people on the housing register in Birmingham has never been higher. Selling these plots will provide a welcome boost to the supply of affordable homes in the city,” she said.

“We are pleased to sell these plots to such a reputable operator of residential properties, one with a commitment to addressing the chronic undersupply of affordable housing in the UK.

“Legal & General Affordable Homes has an excellent pedigree for investing, growing and maintaining communities in the long term. We could not have asked for a better partner in Legal & General Affordable Homes and are pleased that we will be working with them towards the long-term regeneration of Perry Barr.”

In July last year, the for-profit provider acquired 390 shared ownership homes from Orbit Group for nearly £35m.

Set up in 2018 as L&G’s developer and operator of affordable housing, LGAH has invested £1bn to date and built a portfolio of 8,000 homes, with more than 5,000 in operation and 3,000 in development.

It became the first for-profit to receive compliant grades from the Regulator of Social Housing in February 2023, with G1*/V1* ratings.