L&G’s for-profit teams up with Barratt on shared ownership push

Barratt will sell properties to LGAH on a freehold basis. LGAH will then transfer a shared ownership lease to buyers and manage the home.

LGAH, part of insurance giant Legal & General, first registered as a for-profit in 2018 and currently has a portfolio of around 3,000 homes.

It is aiming to have delivered around 10,000 homes by 2027, which includes shared ownership, affordable rent and social rent. 

Nearly a year ago, the subsidiary became the first large for-profit to get compliant grades from the Regulator of Social Housing.

Ben Denton, chief executive of LGAH, said: “We’ve always known that meeting the affordable housing demand in the UK required collaborating with others and growing the sector as a whole – this has been one of our ambitions from day one.

“Launching Kickstart with Barratt Developments will take the offer of shared ownership to more locations, making well built, energy-efficient homes accessible to more people, increasing their options of getting on the property ladder.”

In its last reported full-year to the end of December 2022, LGAH fell to a £3.7m loss on turnover of £19m, according to a filing at Companies House. 

In October, LGAH appointed former Peabody vice-chair Ian Peters to head up its board.

Barratt, like many of its major housebuilding peers, has suffered from the tough economic environment. In its last full year, it reported a 16% drop in adjusted pre-tax profits to £884.3m, but said this was “in line with market expectations”.