It’s no secret that there’s a shortage of social housing in the UK, but Lloyds Banking Group is taking steps to change that.
According to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, there were 1.29 million households on the local authority waiting list on 31st March 2023 – that’s the highest that number has been since 2014.
There’s a clear and growing need to create more social housing in UK, and now Lloyds Banking Group are stepping into the fray with a three-pronged attack to help address the chronic lack of social housing.
Turning commercial property into social housing
Lloyds Banking Group
“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,” Charlie Nunn, Chief Executive Officer, Lloyds Banking Group.
“Today we also have announced our plans to redevelop decommissioned Group data centres and former office sites for new housing projects.” And the first site that will go under construction is right here in Leeds.
Working with housing partners, they plan to turn their old office and data centre in Pudsey into a social housing estate. The development will create 80 new homes for social renting and work is set to start in 2026.
It’s all part of Group-wide strategy to increase the supply of good, affordable homes in the UK. They’re in the process of reviewing their entire portfolio of legacy commercial real estate to identify suitable sites for the project.
Could the former offices at Lovell Park become part of the project? It’s hard to say, and they haven’t confirmed any other sites yet, but with such a central location, it would be a real asset to the city’s social housing portfolio.
Going the extra mile to put families in homes
In addition to repurposing their former offices and data centres, Lloyds Banking Group has committed £200 million to supporting local organisations who provide housing to people experiencing homelessness.
This investment will help small housing providers make more homes for people in need. And Lloyds Banking Group will soon be doing the same themselves, as they launch a new pilot social housing scheme.
They’re working with Citra Living to buy homes and make them available to rent through housing organisations and local authorities, with a focus on supporting families who are homeless or in temporary accommodation.
This makes them the first UK bank to actively enter the market to buy good quality housing and make it available to families at risk of homelessness. The initial pilot scheme will launch in Cambridge in August.
In a world where waiting lists for social housing has increased by 6% in the last year alone, initiatives like these become all the more important. So it’s good to see a local business making a proactive effort to drive change.
