Legal & General Affordable Homes strengthens senior team with new Chief Operating Officer
17 February 2025
Legal & General Affordable Homes (LGAH) has hired Peter Cross as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Peter will help lead the growth of the business as it expands its delivery of high-quality affordable homes that are accessible to all, leveraging the strengths of its operating platform and partnerships.
Peter’s role comes on the back of LGAH adopting ambitious plans to increase its pace of growth, funded through 3rd party investors alongside L&G’s own annuity book.
Peter joins LGAH with over 20 years of operational experience within the real estate sector. Since 2021 he worked in three businesses owned by investment firm Blackstone – Indurent REIT, St Modwen and IQ Student Accommodation – across the industrial, housebuilding and student accommodation sectors. In these roles he focussed on delivering business growth, leading large-scale integration of operating platforms and portfolios, and managing shareholder relations. Prior to this he worked at GSA, where he was responsible for global portfolio management, and at Liberty Living where he was Investment Director. Peter will report to Ben Denton, CEO of LGAH.
The appointment follows the launch of the L&G Affordable Housing Fund last year, aimed at increasing much-needed housing supply in England while delivering diversified inflation-linked cash flow for investors. The investment strategy has raised over £500m of capital to date, with investors including the London CIV and ACCESS Local Government Pensions Scheme pools, Greater Manchester Pension Fund and Better Society Capital.
Established in 2018 as Legal & General’s own developer and operator of affordable housing, LGAH has invested £1bn and built a portfolio of over 8,000 homes that are in operation or development since the business was created.
Ben Denton, CEO, Legal & General Affordable Homes, said: “I am delighted to welcome Peter to the team as we continue to execute our strategy for delivering much-needed affordable housing at scale. His wealth of experience will help take us into the next chapter of our growth as LGAH expands its portfolio and resiliently delivers affordable housing, while placing customers at the heart of how we operate as a business.”
Peter Cross, COO, Legal & General Affordable Homes, said: “I am pleased to have joined LGAH at an important juncture for the business as it builds on its missions to become the leading private provider of affordable housing in the UK. The need for effective players in the market that can help meet the country’s acute housing needs has never been greater, and I look forward to working with Ben and his team to help take the business forward and meet this challenge head on.”