PIC announces £115m joint venture investment in retirement living development

Written by Michael Griffiths

11/11/2022

PIC and Octopus Real Estate have announced they are to build a £115m retirement community in Hertfordshire.

The move marks PIC’s first retirement community investment via a joint venture with Elysian Residences.

A joint venture along with Senior Living Investment Partners has acquired a nine-acre site with planning consent to develop 124 residences in an Integrated Retirement Community (IRC), in How Wood, in St Albans, Hertfordshire.

PIC said it has a purposeful investment strategy, through which the company backs the pensions of its policyholders over decades with secure, long-term assets. This means that the company has invested significant sums in sectors which seek to address the lack of accommodation in the UK across the demographic spectrum.

Senior Living Investment Partners aims to house up to 2,000 people in the coming years across 10 IRC developments.

Commenting, PIC capital senior strategy manager, Max Cawthorn, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Elysian on the How Wood village development, the first investment for Senior Living Investment Partners.

“Local St Albans residents will be given the opportunity to purchase the residences off-plan first, and we expect high demand for these high quality and well located homes, which will be purpose built to empower our residents to live independently.”

Head of retirement living at Octopus Real Estate, Kevin Beirne, commented: “Developing more retirement communities at pace presents a brilliant opportunity for investors, operator partners, those approaching or in retirement, and for the UK and the Government’s Levelling Up agenda. This first investment via our partnership with PIC has the prospect to deliver both strong returns for our stakeholders and strong impact returns by combatting some of the UK’s biggest problems, not least the housing crisis and pressures on health services.”

Elysian CEO, Gavin Stein, added: “We see our partnership putting customers front and centre, continuing to innovate for the benefit of both customers and society, and working hard to serve all key stakeholders, including the local community. We are actively looking for new sites and investment opportunities to undertake with PIC and Octopus Real Estate.”

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