PIC invests in £130 million cornerstone project for UK's largest urban regeneration project

Pension Insurance Corporation plc ('PIC'), a specialist insurer of defined benefit pension funds, has completed a £130 million investment in Wirral Waters One (“WWO”), the cornerstone residential scheme for the broader development of Peel L&P’s Wirral Waters, a 500-acre brownfield site and former dockland. Regeneration specialists Peel L&P has launched a 30-year strategy which will see the site become the largest regeneration project in the UK, creating up to 20,000 permanent jobs. Wirral Waters is supported by central Government as a key part of its levelling up strategy.

Working in close partnership with Peel L&P and Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council ('WMBC'), PIC is the sole investor for the development of a Build-to-Rent scheme, comprising 500 one- and two-bedroom apartments, with an affordable housing component of 100 homes. Rents on the affordable units will be a maximum of 80% of open market value, delivering significant social impact.  

The project will transform the brownfield site into a sustainable location for local and international businesses, creating more than 20,000 permanent jobs for the Liverpool City region, as well as offering a breadth of new housing opportunities. WWO was designated Enterprise Zone status in 2011.

The Build-to-Rent development will use a long-term, regeneration lease structure, providing funding for WMBC which would not have been available from traditional structures, whilst generating the secure long-term cashflows which allow PIC to match its pension payments decades into the future.

WWO brings together an ideal partnership of a long-term investor, a highly experienced developer, and a forward-thinking local authority to generate considerable social value, including:

• One in five apartments to be designated as affordable housing units, with rents set at a maximum of 80% of open market value.
• All buildings across the Wirral Waters regeneration project are targeting BREEAM Excellent, including WWO, as well as significant bio-diversity improvements with the planting of more than 1,600 trees so far.
• WWO will use a range of energy efficiency and low carbon technologies to reduce carbon emissions, including solar power systems, air source heat pumps, and electric vehicle charging points.
• The Peel L&P delivery team will continue to engage with the Wirral Met College's construction students for site visits, seminars, work experience and apprenticeships, enabling the students to benefit from experience on the project as we seek to create the construction workforce of the future.
• Sustainable Urban Drainage to manage surface water from the site into the Docks through the provision of rain gardens, climate tolerant planting and tree pits designed to accommodate a 1 in 100-year storm.

James Whitaker, Executive Director of Development at Peel L&P, said: “This project is a great example of partnership working that will not only deliver this development but will act as a model for other schemes in the future. The combination of an experienced regeneration company, a long-term investor, and a progressive local authority will deliver real value for all our collective stakeholders.”

Hayley Rees, Head of Investment Strategy at Pension Insurance Corporation, said: “Our investment in WWO is another step in the development of our purposeful investment strategy and ultimately is a model for how long-term investors can play a key role in the levelling up agenda. We need secure long-term cashflows to back the pensions of our 300,000 policyholders and so seek to invest in assets with a high degree of social value, because what makes sense for society helps us achieve our purpose over decades.”

Councillor Tony Jones, Chair of Wirral Council's Economy, Regeneration & Development Committee, said: “Already this year with this announcement we are seeing another major step forward for Wirral's Left Bank with the delivery of this latest significant development.

 “The council has worked closely with both Peel L&P and PIC to bring forward this project which will be delivering jobs and affordable housing for people in Wirral.

 “With Peel L&P taking the occupational and delivery risks, this Build to Rent development will be able to provide a long term revenue income stream to the local authority which could support wider service delivery and future investment. It is also another key moment in the continuing wider regeneration in the borough, tying in with the work well underway in Birkenhead to drive forward the town’s renaissance and showing the increasing confidence of investors in the plans for Wirral’s future.”

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Notes to Editors:

For further information please contact:         

Pension Insurance Corporation                 

Jeremy Apfel            
+44 (0)20 7105 2140
apfel@pensioncorporation.com

Ged Brumby              
+44 (0)7540 412301
Ged.brumby@edelmansmithfield.com

Rob Yates                  
+44 (0)7715 375443
Rob.yates@edelmansmithfield.com

Peel L&P                                                     
James Dunningham           
+44 (0)7808 587755

james@ifweranthezoo.com

Lindsay Colbeck                 
+44 (0)7510 915461
lindsay@ifweranthezoo.com

About Peel L&P - Realising Possibility

Peel L&P is an ambitious regeneration business which owns and manages 12 million sq ft of property and 20,000 acres of land and water across the UK, with a total portfolio value of over £2.5 billion.

Established in 1972, it has generations of history, heritage and expertise and is responsible for some of the most transformational projects in the country including The Trafford Centre, Peel Waters’ MediaCity and Peel NRE’s Protos energy and resource hub in Cheshire.

Other Peel Waters regeneration sites include Liverpool Waters, Wirral Waters, Trafford Waters, Manchester Waters, Glasgow Waters and Chatham Waters with a development pipeline of around 30,000 homes, 10 million sq ft of commercial space and circa 160 acres of public realm over the next 20 to 25 years.

As part of The Peel Group, it strives to make a positive impact on people’s lives and is a key partner in helping central and local Government tackle unemployment, reach net zero carbon targets, solve the housing crisis and level-up the country’s regions to improve the prosperity, climate resilience and health and wellbeing of communities.

Peel L&P has accelerated its action towards addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, and its five-year sustainability plan is aligned to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It was also the first company in the UK to third party verify buildings as net zero carbon, as defined by the UK Green Building Council.

Peel L&P’s specialisms include large-scale mixed-use regeneration schemes, residential, retail, industrial and logistics, hospitality & leisure, and low carbon energy development.

We see possibility. We deliver transformation.

More information at www.peellandp.co.uk or follow us on Twitter @PeelLandP and LinkedIn

About Pension Insurance Corporation plc
The purpose of PIC is to pay the pensions of its current and future policyholders. PIC provides secure and stable retirement incomes through leading customer service, comprehensive risk management and excellence in asset and liability management. At half-year 2021, PIC had insured 270,800 pension scheme members and had £47.6 billion in financial investments, accumulated through the provision of tailored pension insurance buyouts and buy-ins to the trustees and sponsors of U.K. defined benefit pension schemes. Clients include FTSE 100 companies, multinationals and the public sector. PIC is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority (FRN 454345).

For further information please visit www.pensioncorporation.com