Three major pension funds have announced a combined £3 billion in new investments aimed at strengthening Britain’s housing, infrastructure, and private equity sectors.
The latest commitments mark a fresh attempt to revitalise long-term domestic investment and channel pension savings into real economic growth.
The move comes as the government prepares to host two high-level pension summits in London and Birmingham this week, bringing together global and UK institutional investors to address capital barriers, regional development, and housing supply challenges.
Together, these initiatives are part of a wider effort to rebuild investor confidence and boost productivity across the UK.
£3bn investment push to ‘get Britain building again’
Legal & General (L&G), AustralianSuper, and the National Employment Savings Trust (Nest) have pledged to channel billions into UK projects over the next year.
L&G said on Monday it will invest an additional £2 billion across housing and infrastructure over five years, expanding on its £2.5 billion pledge from 2022 to build rental homes.
The company said the new round will create about 24,000 jobs and deliver around 10,000 new social and affordable homes, while targeting both financial and social outcomes.
AustralianSuper, the largest pension fund in Australia, announced an initial £500 million investment in UK residential developments within the next 12 months.
The fund plans to focus on student housing, co-living spaces, and rental properties, with a goal of becoming one of the top five rental housing operators in the UK by 2030.
Meanwhile, Nest has committed another £500 million to its private equity partnership with Schroders, with £100 million of that expected to go directly into UK firms.
Nest currently has £2 billion invested in private equity, nearly 20% of which is already in the domestic market.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves welcomed the announcements, saying the focus was on “getting Britain building again” by mobilising savings, investors, and regional stakeholders to “deliver the homes, infrastructure and industries that will drive growth.”
Housing shortage fuels investment opportunities
Institutional interest in the UK housing market has surged amid rising rents and constrained supply.
According to the Office for National Statistics, average rents have increased 8.7% year-on-year in 2025, creating conditions that make build-to-rent and affordable housing projects particularly attractive to long-term investors.
Vicky Stanley, senior investment director for real assets at AustralianSuper, said the UK housing market faces a “structural supply and demand imbalance that’s built up over decades.”
The imbalance, she added, creates stable long-term returns for institutional capital while helping address Britain’s housing shortage.
Sterling 20 partnership aims to unlock private market growth
The new wave of investment comes as Britain’s largest pension funds form the Sterling 20, a partnership modelled on Canada’s “Maple 8” group of institutional investors.
The initiative seeks to improve coordination between pension schemes and policymakers to channel more domestic capital into infrastructure, housing, and growth companies.
A delegation of Australian superannuation fund leaders is meeting UK officials and pension executives in London this week to explore new investment opportunities.
On Tuesday, the Sterling 20 will convene in Birmingham to discuss regional investment strategies and ways to unlock large-scale projects across the country.
The meetings build on the Mansion House Accord, a voluntary commitment signed earlier this year by 17 of the UK’s biggest pension providers to invest at least 5% of their default fund assets in UK private markets by 2030.
The latest developments signal continued momentum toward mobilising institutional capital for national growth.
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