Lloyds Bank – already a player of growing importance in the Build To Rent niche – is now to publish what it calls a ‘White Paper’ on its plans for all aspects of the rental sector.
This will be revealed at a Housing Forum, being hosted this week by the bank, which will bring together policy makers, chief executives and others in the debate to discuss how housing can become more widely available in the social and private sectors.
The news comes as the bank reveals that it’s growing to redevelop its redundant data centres and former office sites into new social housing projects, with the first such conversion happening in 2026 in Pudsey, West Yorkshire.
Lloyds Banking Group is also making a new £200m financing commitment to support local providers of housing, including those focusing on preventing homelessness or supplying properties for individuals with special needs.
Lloyds claims that it’s already “the biggest supporter of social housing in the UK” working with over 340 housing associations of all sizes.
Through its subsidiary Citra Living – which until now has been involved only in Build To Rent – the bank claims it will acquire suitable homes and work in partnership with housing organisations and local authorities to lower the costs of providing suitable and good quality accommodation for families who are currently living in temporary accommodation.
The initial pilot scheme will begin next month in Cambridge, with plans to roll out to other cities across the UK. The homes will be sourced to address the particular needs of local authority areas. The pilot will focus on directly supporting families currently presenting as homeless or those in temporary unsuitable accommodation.
Lloyds Banking Group chief executive Charlie Nunn says: “Everyone has the right to build a future from the foundation of a secure home. Social housing is part of this country’s critical infrastructure, and we need to direct and increase investment into the right homes, in the places they’re needed most.
“Lloyds Banking Group has provided £17 billion of support to the sector since 2018 and today we also have announced our plans to redevelop decommissioned Group data centres and former office sites for new housing projects – and I would encourage others to also consider this.
“We’re also making a major financing commitment to housing providers, and through Citra Living we will own good-quality homes to be made available for those most in need. In partnership across the private, public and third sectors, we can create more good-quality, genuinely-affordable homes.”
Citra Living is the Build To Rent offshoot of Lloyds Banking Group: it owns and operates a portfolio of more than 2,000 homes across the UK.
In June it started work on a £13m Build To Rent scheme in Nottingham. A month ago earlier it acquired 156 new properties from the country’s largest house builder Barratt as part of a strategic partnership between the two.
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