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L&G invests £44m in homes for Croydon’s homeless families
Legal & General (L&G) has announced plans to invest £44.6m in building 167 new homes for homeless families in Croydon.
The homes, which are a mixture of homes and apartments in the south London borough, are to be built and then leased to Croydon Council over a 40-year term, after which the properties will fall under the ownership of the council.
According to L&G, the partnership with the council will save the local authority around £20m, with rents set at Local Housing Allowance levels.
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The investment will be made on behalf of Legal & General Retirement Institutional, and the homes will be managed by Croydon Council’s housing team and offered to those on the council’s housing waiting list.
Alison Butler, deputy leader and cabinet member for homes and gateway services at Croydon Council, said: “The council set up Croydon Affordable Homes so hundreds of local families can get good-quality homes with secure tenancies, and Legal & General’s investment will save us around £20m in loan costs [so that] we can assist even more families in the long term.
“At a time when the government is squeezing how much it funds local authorities, this innovative partnership offers us better value for money than more traditional loans available to councils, and I hope this encourages other councils and financial institutions to follow suit.”
Pete Gladwell, head of public sector partnerships at L&G, said: “Alongside launching our new affordable housing business last year, this investment highlights our determination to innovate within the sector and to work together to address the UK’s chronic housing crisis.”
The 167 homes are mainly two and three-bed flats and houses, plus a four-bed house and a five-bed house. These will be for Croydon families previously in temporary accommodation and will be run by Croydon Affordable Tenures, part of Croydon Affordable Housing, a local housing charity set up by the council.
