The insurance and investment group has paid £315m to acquire the 52% of Cala it does not already own.

This involves buying out its fellow major shareholder, the property investor Patron Capital, and Cala’s management team in a deal that values the firm at £605m.

The business has performed strongly in recent years with revenues tripling from £241m in 2013 to £748m in 2017, and profits growing by around 12% annually over the last three years.

Legal & General said that CALA Homes had attractive growth prospects under its continued ownership based on Legal & General Capital’s long term approach to investing and the attractive market for housebuilding.

In recently reported half-year trading, Cala lifted completions by a third to over 900 homes.

Management believe it has the capability to build in excess of 3,000 units per annum from its existing regional network.

Alan Brown, Chief Executive of CALA Homes, said:  “Today’s investment by Legal & General marks the start of another exciting new chapter for CALA Homes and is a fantastic endorsement of our growth potential from one of the UK’s most highly-respected, blue-chip investors who shares our long-term vision.

“Over the past five years we have become one of the UK’s fastest growing house builders and this is testament to the strength and ambition of our team, the quality of our homes and our approach to customer service.”

Legal & General is seeking to transform the house building industry and last year opened a modular housing factory in Leeds  with the aim of building more than 70,000 new homes over 10 years.

The deal gives it an interest in the full range of housing models.

It is a major investor in build to rent with many high-rise schemes presently under construction.

Legal & General Homes, the housebuilding arm of Legal & General Capital, has bought two major sites in Berkshire where it is acting as a traditional developer.

Recently it bought a 272-acre site in Arborfield, Wokingham with planning consent for the homes, a school, shops and employment generating uses and started work last year on Buckler’s Park, a 250 acre, 1000-home development in Crowthorne in Berkshire.