£75m pumped into house-building schemes in London

Some £75 million has been channeled towards building homes across London, it has been revealed.

HSBC has given one of the capital's biggest housing associations the funds to develop and purchase new property as part of its £2 billion expansion plans.

L&Q homes provides accommodation for people on a range of incomes, including rental and part-ownership schemes, and owns and manages over 70,000 Properties in London and the south-east.

This new deal with HSBC will help to finance over 3,000 new homes with a further 12,000 in the pipeline.

Commenting on the developments, Andy Armstrong, head of corporate banking real estate for Europe at HSBC, said that L&Q was chosen because of its reliable reputation.

He added: "There has been a lot of comment over the difficulty people have getting on the housing ladder in London and the south-east, and as such the service that L&Q offers is becoming ever more important.

"L&Q plays an important role in social housing, and is a business which is going from strength to strength. This £75 million debt facility we have agreed will enable L&Q to build more homes in and around London, giving families in need of accommodation a viable option. L&Q is a strong business with a very good track record."

London currently faces a shortage of housing supply, due to the slow rate of construction.

Official figures show that the number of new homes needed each year in the UK is around  290,500 to keep up with demand. But in 2013, just 133,670 new homes were registered by construction firms.

At the same time, house price rises are hampering the ability of many Londoners to get onto the property ladder.

Recent findings by Knight Frank revealed that property prices rose about 17.7 percent in the year through February, to an average of £458,000, the biggest increase since July 2007. 

However, this new financing deal could see more affordable rental properties being built across the UK.

Published 14th May, 2014

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