Lloyds Bank Group is to convert decommissioned data centres and former office sites into new social housing projects.
The Group has plans to identify suitable housing partners in the regions who will be responsible for redeveloping the sites to increase the availability of social housing.
The construction of the first site in Pudsey, West Yorkshire, formerly an office and data centre, is set to commence in 2026. This will create up to 80 new homes that could be available for social rent and help to increase the supply of good, affordable homes in the UK.
A full review of the Group’s legacy commercial real-estate portfolio is currently underway, with plans progressing to finalise additional sites that could also be developed by housing partners as social housing in the coming years.
Lloyds Banking Group is also making a new £200 million financing commitment to support local providers who provide housing for those who need it most.
This will focus on those experiencing homelessness or individuals with special needs. This financial commitment will enable small housing providers across the country to increase the number of quality homes they are able to make available for the most in need.
Lloyds Banking Group will also become the first UK bank to actively enter the market to own good quality housing that will be available to house families at risk of homelessness.
Through Citra Living, the Group 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 in August in Cambridge, with plans to roll out to other cities across the UK.
Charlie Nunn, chief executive officer, Lloyds Banking Group. was a driving force behind the launch of the Social Housing Initiative (SHI) bringing together CEOs and leaders from across the financial, housing, public and third sectors, to take steps to address the chronic lack of social housing and genuinely-affordable homes in the UK.
“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,” he says. “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.”