Mixed-use developer Muse says it will submit plans for a 100-unit Build To Let scheme at part of a retail, office and residential development in Chester – another sign that Build To Let is making an impact outside of just London and major cities.

Until recently Build To Let – the investment by institutions to build and then operate blocks of purpose-built units – has been considered as most appropriate for bigger urban centres.

The scheme is on the banks of the Shropshire Union Canal and will form part of the developer’s £120m City Place development, due for completion in 2020.

“We’ve already received a number of unsolicited approaches from private rental sector investors to acquire the residential scheme, so we are very optimistic about the future of the project” says Phil Mayall, development director at Muse.

Earlier this month, and before the Muse announcement, housing minister Brandon Lewis revealed that 15 Build To Let schemes creating 4,000 rental units had already been agreed across the UK and that more were in a pipeline, fuelled by a £1 billion fund of public money.