John Lewis have announced plans to invest in residential property.
They are looking to build homes to rent on land they own and become one of the UK’s largest private landlords Figures of 10,000 properties are being bandied around to be built over the next decade.
This is seen as part of a plan to refocus the group and restore its fortunes which like most physical retailers have suffered over the last 10 years or more They see opportunities to sell their home products to Tenants.
Being John Lewis they want to do this in an ethical and fair way and may give their own staff the opportunity to have discounted rents.
This is really a staggering deal in many ways. It is simply impossible to imagine a large retail chain considering an idea like this in any context prior to Covid . That is the obvious surprise.
However, for professional Landlords, this deal represents a much more fascinating development which in the commentary to date has as far as we are aware been overlooked.
From 2014 it was made clear the Conservatives had changed their mind about buy to let as the way to promote a rental market. In their ideal world they wanted large landlords run by reputable companies to manage and own private rental properties.
Companies like Tesco or dare one say it JOHN LEWIS Because quite rightly they expect a company like John Lewis to operate such a portfolio in an ethical and sustainable way.
They have to not just because they want to, but because of the reputational risk to their brand if they do not. And their Tenants are going to expect that higher standard from them
So I think we can expect that to happen. How John Lewis operate will set the bench mark for every private landlord in the UK This could truly be a revolution in how private properties are operated.
So Landlords watch this space because if this investment succeeds you may well be seeing the future of private rental in this country. And if it works for them who knows, maybe Tesco will be next!