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L&Q buys 167 homes from Southern at giant east London scheme
L&Q has acquired 167 homes from Southern Housing for an undisclosed sum to add to its stock at the giant Barking Riverside regeneration scheme in east London.
The homes were part of the first delivery phase at the 440-acre brownfield site next to the River Thames, where 10,800 homes are planned in total.
L&Q became the master developer on the mega-scheme in 2016, after striking a joint-venture deal with the Greater London Authority. The G15 landlord took over development from Bellway, the house builder that had owned the former Barking Power Station site since 1994.
It is one of Europe’s largest mixed-use regeneration schemes.
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The deal with Southern sees L&Q taking on 115 socially rented homes and 52 at intermediate market rent. The tenures will remain the same under L&Q’s ownership, a spokesperson confirmed to Inside Housing.
“We have informed our new residents in these properties of the transfer and what this means for their homes and tenures, providing reassurance and support wherever needed,” the spokesperson said.
L&Q now owns around 650 homes at Barking Riverside as a result of the deal.
The borough of Barking and Dagenham is one of L&Q’s “growth areas”, where it already owns 3,627 homes.
John Lumley, director of strategic sales at L&Q, said: “This acquisition not only marks another step forward in our growth strategy as a strong and forward-looking business, but it also solidifies our commitment to the local area, our residents at Barking Riverside and the partnership with the local authority.”
This deal is the reverse of a bigger deal last month, when L&Q sold 794 homes to Southern Housing, the new entity formed from the merger of Southern and Optivo.
The 105,000-home L&Q is still busy with its stock rationalisation programme, which has been running for the past two years, the spokesperson confirmed. The rationalisation push is part of efforts to improves its tenant services.
It comes amid an increasing sector-wide focus on housing standards and the treatment of tenants, in the wake of the Grenfell fire and the shocking death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak from exposure to mould in the housing association flat where he lived.
