John Lewis Partnership (JLP) is withdrawing from its build-to-rent (BTR) property business following a “fundamental shift in the economic conditions”.
CGI of John Lewis’ West Ealing BTR scheme – Credit: John Lewis Partnership
The partnership launched the BTR business in 2020 and has progressed on four major schemes in Reading, Bromley, Stratford and West Ealing.
JLP said the move away from BTR also comes as it looks to “refocus on the partnership’s core retail brands”, John Lewis and Waitrose, where “significant” investment programmes are underway. It added that it would fulfill its existing management contracts at all four BTR sites as its makes a “responsible transition out of the business”.
Despite recently securing planning for its £70m Reading scheme, comprising 170 homes, the partnership has faced significant challenges in building its BTR brand in what it called a “highly constrained planning environment”.
In May 2025, JLP won an appeal to redevelop its Waitrose West Ealing site after it was forced to launch an appeal a year prior on the grounds of ‘non-determination’ by the local planning authority, having originally submitted its plans in July 2023.
JLP also secured planning for its flagship Bromley scheme in July 2024, after the scheme faced backlash over its provision of affordable homes. In August, JLP announced plans to take over the management of Stratford Studios near Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, comprising 158 studio apartments in a former office building, converted in 2022.
A spokesperson for JLP said: “Our rental property ambition was based on a very different financial environment: one with more stable investment returns, lower borrowing costs and more affordable costs to build homes. Unfortunately, the current climate – higher interest rates, inflationary pressures and a more cautious property market – has meant the model no longer meets the partnership’s investment criteria.
“Since we embarked on the rental property plans in 2020, we have made significant progress with our core retail strategy. This has seen us invest heavily in our customer offer for our unique brands John Lewis and Waitrose, simplifying our business and strengthening our balance sheet. The strategy is progressing well and involves modernising our stores, enhancing our digital platforms and improving our supply chain to provide the best possible quality, service and value to our customers.
“We’re proud of what we’ve achieved in terms of progress with three planning applications and managing third party BTR homes for residents to a high standard. We will fulfil our existing management contracts at four BTR sites as part of a responsible transition out of the business.”
Brendan Geraghty, chief executive of the Association for Rental Living, said this was “disappointing news and a real loss for consumers”.
“JLP brought something genuinely different to rental living – a trusted consumer brand, a service-first culture and a long-term commitment to quality that institutional investors and residents alike responded to,” he said.
“Whatever people will say, the partnership did not fail. It was ambitious, it was credible and it was doing the right thing. What has made this venture unworkable is a set of conditions entirely outside its control: borrowing costs that have roughly doubled since 2021, construction cost inflation that continues to outstrip general prices, an unwieldy planning system that has added years to delivery timescales, and the introduction of legislation.”
Iain Murray, head of operational living at Bidwells, added: “This was a hugely ambitious project in 2020, but today’s economic and legislative landscape has rendered it unviable.
“The mixture of regulatory and legislative barriers that currently exist find even the most compelling and necessary developments struggling to find investment. Government must shoulder much of the blame for today’s news.
“Through structured collaboration between government and investors, there are credible routes to unblocking the current barriers. However, this cannot be framed solely as a planning issue. It reflects a layered stack of regulation, tax and building safety delays that, taken together, have created the impasse companies such as JLP now face.”
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