Picture Living to forward-fund Crewe resi

Mixed-tenure housebuilder Vistry has agreed a deal with the private rental sector lending platform, managed by Thriving Investments, for 58 family homes at Leighton West.

The PRS homes will form part of a 791-home development on a 117-acre masterplan area off Minshull New Road and Flowers Lane. Partners Vistry Group and Bloor Homes secured consent for the development from Cheshire East Council in 2024.

The Leighton West scheme, on land close to the Leighton hospital complex, is a strategic housing site within Cheshire East’s local plan.

As a whole, the development will contribute £5.6m to enhance local community services and facilities, including a pub, a children’s day nursery, and a site for a new primary school.

Matthew Parkes, managing director of Vistry Manchester & Cheshire East, said: “This deal is exactly in line with our partner delivery strategy, as it will provide high quality rental housing on this large, multi-tenure site.

“We’re committed to creating mixed-tenure developments and partnerships with organisations like Thriving Investments, helping to deliver more accessible housing options for families and individuals.”

Thriving Investments was set up by Places for People group as a “fund manager with a social conscience,” originally billed as PfP Capital.

Picture Living is a fund of around £450m, in which Places for People and the Universities Superannuation Scheme are joint venture partners.

Jamie Younger, Thriving Investments’ chief investment officer and Picture Living fund director, said: “At Thriving Investments, we create funding avenues that help address challenges in the housing market. As regulatory changes reshape the private rented sector, we’re seeing many smaller landlords reassess their position, leading to more leaving the sector, which in turn is driving up rents for working families and pricing more people out of the market.

“We’re proud to build on our partnership with Vistry to provide long-term, stable investment that ultimately creates more homes for families, enabling them to live in the communities they know and love.”

Elsewhere within the masterplan, open-market plots are now on sale in Foxglove Place through Vistry’s Linden Homes brand.

Vistry will deliver 408 of the 791 homes at Leighton West, including 208 for affordable housing provider Plus Dane. Of these, Plus Dane will make 123 homes available as social rent homes with the remaining 85 homes offered as affordable home ownership.

Further homes will soon be offered for open market sale in Nightingale Grove through Vistry Group’s Bovis brand.