Legal and General’s build to rent portfolio will grow ‘exponentially’ according to their Pete Gladwell, Head of Public Sector Partnerships at L&G Investment Management.

Speaking at the Manchester Development Plans Conference he said the insurer is delivering its first build to rent development in Salford which was letting ‘much quicker’ than anticipated, with almost a third of tenants having moved from more than 100 miles away and ranging in age up to 70. Gladwell said: ‘’It is quite different to what we thought it would be.’’

The insurance giant’s overall B2R portfolio is ‘going to grow exponentially’.

Louise Wyman, Head of Strategy at Homes England, said the recently relaunched agency is keen to do more to support build to rent development and modern methods of construction, and that the agency would be ‘absolutely’ emphasising design quality. She said: ‘’It’s important that government money is invested in the right kind of places in the right kind of way.’’

Catherine Dewar, Planning Director for the North West and North East at Historic England, outlined research that the heritage body has commissioned from Cushman & Wakefield into the development potential of the region’s derelict historic textile mills. The report suggests 50,000 homes across the North of England could be created without eating into the green belt. She said: ‘’We could provide 25,000 homes in Greater Manager and 52,000 if West Yorkshire is included. The mills can help deliver a solution to the housing crisis without impacting on the green belt.’’

Deward said that the near 2m sq m of mill floorspace could also deliver around 30,000 new jobs, but action would need to be taken soon as 48% of Greater Manchester’s mills had been destroyed in the last 30 years. She said that Historic England recognised that ‘often low’ local market values meant that repurposing mills is often a ‘high risk’ activity, however she said that the heritage quango could derisk projects by identifying features of listed buildings that are important and need to be preserved.

Dewar also said that Historic England is working with Leeds LEP to commission a feasibility study which will lead to a Leeds mills investment strategy. She outlined how the conservation quango’s support was helping to bring a number of disused mills back into use. As an example she cited Pendle, where the district council has formed a joint venture to carry out a £32m mixed use redevelopment of the Lancashire town’s Briarfield Mill.

Colin Shenton, Director of the Shenton Group, said that the developer is launching the first scheme in its new co-living venture in Manchester’s Northern Quarter. For a fixed rent residency, the occupier will receive a self-contained apartment and access to a full floor of share spaces including a library, TV room, bike storage and a shared kitchen. He said: ‘’Tenant can treat it like a hotel, for a fixed price they will never get surprise bills.’’

He also told the Manchester Development Plans Conference that Shenton’s Ziferblat co-working concept reflected a more pro-active approach to property developing adding: ‘’For too long property companies have made space available and assumed that they will collect the rent. Those days have gone. Ziferblat is successful because it is customer focused.’’

Unlike much commercial property, companies renting space in Ziferblat required no minimum stay, he added.