THE JOHN Lewis Partnership has announced the first three locations of its proposed new rental homes.
The partnership is seeking to provide properties that cater to the UK’s growing built-to-rent market, proposing the conversion of three of its sites.
A site on Mill Lane, Reading, is set to become one of the buildings that it intends to turn into rental homes.
A period of public consultation will begin later in the year regarding the vacant John Lewis warehouse at the site.
The warehouse close to the centre of Reading is currently disused, after it closed for business as a collection point early in 2020.
Nina Bhatia, executive director for strategy and commercial development at the John Lewis Partnership, said: “Everything people love about our brand – quality, trust and service – we want to bring to the experience of renting a home with us.
“Our role as developer and operator, as well as an already established local business and employer, signals our ambition to bring long-term value to each of these communities.”
Details of the designs will not be shown until later in the year, with the partnership seeking flexibility and the opportunity for residents to shape the plans.
The current proposals, however, would see a diverse range of homes built on the sites, with options for long and short tenures, and furnished by John Lewis.
They would also seek to include shared spaces, such as gardens and fitness studios.
Ms Bhatia explained: “Helping to create homes has always been at the heart of what we do and we now have a unique opportunity to use our expertise and skills in new ways to deliver much-needed new housing.”
The other two proposed sites, in Bromley and West Ealing, are also set to reach the public consultation stage later this year.
Overall, the John Lewis partnership is seeking to deliver 10,000 new homes in the next ten years, 5,000 of which will be on sites it already owns.
Its move into the retail market, it says, is part of its plans to diversify its revenue streams away from retail.
