John Lewis scraps £500m deal to build 1,000 rental homes

Retailer said ‘fundamental shift in economic conditions’ made it difficult for financial partner Aberdeen to raise funds

The John Lewis Partnership is pulling out of a £500m deal to build almost 1,000 residential rental homes for rent in Bromley, Reading and West Ealing amid a “cautious property market”.

The retailer, which owns Waitrose supermarkets and John Lewis department stores, blamed a “fundamental shift in the economic conditions”, which it said had made it difficult for its financial partner, Aberdeen, to raise funds for the venture, first launched in 2020.