Build To Rent operator names managing agency for first scheme

L&G, one of the biggest firms involved in Britain’s Built To Rent sector, has named the agency it is appointing to look after a new scheme launching this summer.

It has appointed urbanbubble to “help deliver a new standard of service to the UK rental market” at The Slate Yard in Salford, opening this year. 

In a statement from LGIM, the part of L&G responsible for Build To Rent, the firm claims: ”The current UK rental market has not provided its residents with acceptable renting standards across the board. Many renters find themselves at the mercy of expensive moving fees, unresponsive managers, and private landlords who often want to minimise upkeep costs and maximise rents. It is important that renters get access to high quality, well managed accommodation, specifically designed for the rental market in urban locations that they want to live.”

LGIM says that with urbanbubble - a managing agency founded in 2008 which now manages over 100 residential schemes with 7,000 apartments under management across the North West - it is seeking “to pioneer a new service proposition with a move away from this traditional renting model, so that renting can become an active choice for the market.”

The 225-unit Slate Yard tenants will enjoy a car club and free wi-fi amongst other facilities. 

“We want residents to consider they are renting their home, not someone else's, so you can decorate, keep pets and you can add bespoke services such as housekeeping, dry cleaning or ironing service” says LGIM, which also pledges to deliver “longer and more flexible tenancies” plus no letting fees and a more transparent deposit process.

Legal & General now has a £1 billion fund to invest and build new large scale rental development properties and has over 1,000 BTR homes under construction or in planning, in Bristol, Salford and Walthamstow.