Pension Insurance Corporation plc (PIC), a specialist insurer of defined benefit pension funds, has completed a £130 million investment in Wirral Waters One (WWO), the cornerstone residential scheme for Peel L&P’s 500-acre Wirral Waters development.
Wirral Waters is supported by the UK’s Central Government as a key part of its “levelling up” strategy.
Working with Peel L&P and Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (WMBC), PIC is the sole investor for the development of a build-to-rent scheme, comprising 500 apartments, with an affordable housing component of 100 homes.
Rents on the affordable units will be a maximum of 80% of open market value.
“The project will transform the brownfield site into a sustainable location for local and international businesses, creating more than 20,000 permanent jobs for the Liverpool City region, as well as offering a breadth of new housing opportunities …” said Peel L&P.
“The build-to-rent development will use a long-term, regeneration lease structure, providing funding for WMBC which would not have been available from traditional structures, whilst generating the secure long-term cashflows which allow PIC to match its pension payments decades into the future.”
James Whitaker, executive director of development at Peel L&P, said: “This project is a great example of partnership working that will not only deliver this development but will act as a model for other schemes in the future.
“The combination of an experienced regeneration company, a long-term investor, and a progressive local authority will deliver real value for all our collective stakeholders.”
Hayley Rees, head of investment strategy at Pension Insurance Corporation, said: “Our investment in WWO is another step in the development of our purposeful investment strategy and ultimately is a model for how long-term investors can play a key role in the levelling up agenda.
“We need secure long-term cashflows to back the pensions of our 300,000 policyholders and so seek to invest in assets with a high degree of social value, because what makes sense for society helps us achieve our purpose over decades.”