More than £80m will be invested to create energy-efficient homes, as well as 6,000 sq ft of internal amenity space at the site located next to the A329 and opposite the Oracle shopping centre.

Designed by London practice Carey Jones Chapman Tolcher, the homes will be highly sustainable, using high performance materials with renewable energy resources.

The Reading proposals reinforce JLP’s ambition to create a rental housing brand that will manage homes designed specifically for rent.

JLP recently received a resolution to grant planning consent to transform a Waitrose site in south London, next to Bromley South rail station, and is progressing another application in West Ealing five minutes from the local Crossrail station.

Katherine Russell, Director of Build-To-Rent for the John Lewis Partnership, said: “By revitalising brownfield land we have a fantastic opportunity to provide a significant number of homes which can help alleviate some of the growing pressure on Reading’s housing market.

“These will be homes not only developed by us, but managed by us, meaning we can offer quality service and a guarantee that homes will not be sold off, as so often happens in the rental market.”

If approved, construction is expected to start in early 2026 allowing the first residents to take occupancy in 2028, meaning they would become the first residents to move into a JLP home development.