Legal & General agrees funding deal for £100m Birmingham regeneration

A new funding deal has been secured to support the regeneration of a former industrial site in Birmingham.

Legal & General has agreed to finance the £100 million Hockley Mills project in the Jewellery Quarter which was granted planning consent in 2018.

The scheme will see the regeneration of the four-acre former Mr Tyre site in Pitsford Street to create 395 apartments to rent and 116 parking spaces.

There will also be 28,000 sq ft of commercial space for uses such as leisure and offices and a new entrance to the adjacent Jewellery Quarter railway and tram station.

The project is being led by developer Blackswan Property and this funding deal comes three months after the company was acquired by Hungarian investor Cordia International, its first acquisition in the UK market.

Dan Batterton, senior fund manager at Legal & General’s real estate arm, said: “In the space of the last few years, the build-to-rent sector has really come into its own.

“It has cemented its position in the UK as an asset class and successfully evolved away from the private rented sector.

“Showing its resilience and relative counter cyclical nature of the residential sector, build-to-rent has remained largely unaffected throughout the coronavirus pandemic as occupancy, rent collection and demand has remained high.

“Hockley Mills further strengthens our existing portfolio, bringing our total number of schemes to 16 in 11 cities providing more than 5,300 apartments.

“The scheme will deliver high-quality, professionally managed rental accommodation that can help to address the supply demand imbalance in Birmingham.”

 Legal & General was advised by global property consultancy Knight Frank.