JLP's director of build-to-rent, Katherine Russell, explains in The Times why the company plans to create thousands of branded rental homes above Waitrose stores.
A world without next-day deliveries, access to wine from anywhere on the planet and the ability to stream any song ever recorded would have been unbelievable 30 years ago. Growing consumer expectations are being met in many areas of our lives. Sadly, renting a home isn’t one of them.
Despite costing the average consumer more than 100 times more than a Spotify subscription, renting a flat is far from frictionless. Standards can be unpredictable at best; unsafe and insecure at their worst. Nearly a quarter of England’s rental stock is “non-decent”, says the government’s English Housing Survey.
Why do we care? As part of plans to manage thousands of John Lewis Partnership-branded homes, we’re proposing “build-to-rent” (BTR) housing above Waitrose stores and on our unused land. We want to make better use of centrally located brownfield sites — something that our fellow retailer Asda also plans, close to transport links in Park Royal, west London, which we applaud.
Our own approach will be to manage our schemes in perpetuity, providing high-quality service and security of tenure. Unlike buy-to-let housing, build-to-rent is purpose-designed for renting. Shared spaces for socialising, fitness or relaxation are included, as well as green spaces for residents and locals to enjoy. Round-the-clock service ensures security, helps avoid annoyances like missed deliveries and means if a problem occurs, there’s a real person to sort it out.
Pension funds are attracted by the stable returns BTR can deliver over many decades. While house builders sell homes once complete, our plan is to hold on to our homes for decades, meaning we’ve got a commercial imperative to create high-quality homes that people will want to stay in for many years. Our rental plans play to the hallmarks of our brand — quality, service and value — and will create long term value for the Partnership.
But as The Sunday Times recently revealed, planning red tape, nimbyism and political apathy mean that billions of pounds of potential investment remain on the side lines.
More younger people — and more renters — are planning to vote at the next election than ever before, meaning manifesto pledges for renters make a lot of sense. With 400,000 fewer rental properties compared with a decade ago, the situation is critical.
Here are two simple things we need.
First, a clear national strategy on why building for renting is needed. It should be aligned with other major infrastructure projects so that we can leverage other public investments into green energy networks or transport hubs such as Crossrail or HS2.
For example, our West Ealing scheme in west London — planning 428 homes and a new Waitrose — is just a short walk from the new Crossrail station. Having spent £19 billion on the Elizabeth Line, surely it makes sense to maximise its use and reduce commuting times by building densely around it? A national strategy should ensure every local plan mandates a quota of build-to-rent housing.
If the UK is serious about being a hub for innovation and productivity, then people in all industries — such as scientists, tech founders, teachers and nurses — will demand high quality housing. The flexibility of renting is key in helping drive labour mobility.
Second, brownfield development zones — where height, use and other elements can be pre-agreed — would create greater certainty that policy-compliant schemes are assessed on their merits and their broader benefits for the greater good. We need to be pragmatic that there might be some downsides from development, but still consider the considerable social and economic advantages quality housing offers. These solutions have been successfully used across the US and could help avoid lengthy planning appeals.
According to Bloomberg, UK taxpayers spent £10 million on the legal costs of reversing local council decisions last year, adding that 100,000 homes have been granted planning permission on appeal since 2019.
As an employee-owned business, we’re able to take a long-term view on everything we do. Building around our stores will also enable us to reinvest into our core retail businesses and cement our long-term role in the communities we serve.
When we set up our John Lewis mobile app some 14 years ago, many questioned why. Looking back now, few would disagree that this pioneering stance in ecommerce has set the standard for many other retailers. We plan to do the same in the rental sector but we recognise it won’t happen overnight.
Before apps and websites, some of us still remember “28 Days Later” when it referred to a delivery time, not a cult zombie film. No one waits a month for an online order and no one should have to suffer our broken rental market either.
