| Role: | Strategic Development and Operating Partner across multiple UK sites |
| Status: | Pre-development |
| Partners: | John Lewis Partnership (JLP) and abrdn |
| Uses: | Residential |
Milligan worked closely with the John Lewis Partnership (JLP) to help establish a fully integrated Build to Rent (BTR) development, operating, and investment business, making use of JLP’s extensive property portfolio. This initiative was part of JLP’s ambition to help address the UK housing shortage while diversifying its business.
Milligan provided strategic support across the full development lifecycle – from initial feasibility, planning, and investment strategy, to project delivery. We helped shape a pipeline of schemes and overseen the first three projects from concept through to planning.
Milligan introduced global investor Aberdeen to the opportunity, culminating in a £500m, multi-decade joint venture to deliver the first 1,000 homes of JLP’s wider 10,000-home ambition.
The first three projects were announced in June 2022 at existing Waitrose sites in Bromley South and West Ealing, and at a former John Lewis customer service centre on Mill Lane, Reading.
All planning applications were submitted in 2023 and 2024. In August 2024, JLP secured a Resolution to Grant for the Bromley South site – its first fully designed and developed BTR scheme. Planning for West Ealing and Reading followed in 2025.
Milligan has been an integral part of the JLP client team, providing strategic oversight, leading multi-disciplinary project teams, and guiding every aspect of development – from setting briefs and shaping designs, to planning, procurement, and financial modelling.
Alongside its development pipeline, JLP also grew its operational footprint in the sector managing 1,000 BTR homes across the UK on behalf of funds managed by Aberdeen – including 259 homes in Birmingham (added in 2024), 326 homes at Clarendon Quarter in Leeds, and 232 at Queen Street Quarter in Leicester.
In February 2026, JLP decided to conclude this venture to refocus on the partnership’s core retail brands, John Lewis and Waitrose, where significant investment programmes were underway. The rental property ambition was based on more stable investment returns, lower borrowing costs and more affordable costs to build homes. Higher interest rates, inflationary pressures and a more cautious property market has meant that the model no longer meets the partnership’s investment criteria.
JLP’s BTR offer was underpinned by the trust, quality, and service associated with the John Lewis brand, values that were integral to all developments. We remain very proud of what we helped JLP achieve in such a short space of time – a major undertaking that drew on the full breadth of Milligan’s expertise, creativity, and ability to lead complex, large-scale regeneration projects.
