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L&Q puts private rental business on sale for £1.2bn
Large housing association L&Q has put its private rented sector (PRS) business on sale for £1.2bn.
The 105,000-home landlord has put Metra Living, its wholly owned market rent arm, on the market as it returns to its core focus on social housing.
The Metra Living portfolio consists of 3,147 homes across 53 schemes in Greater London, the majority of which were built in the past 10 years.
The proposed sale will include the transfer of Metra Living’s existing operational platform and team, L&Q said in a stock market announcement.
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L&Q expects the sale to generate additional funding which will be reinvested back into building and managing social homes. It will also ensure private renters continue to receive services from a “dedicated and specialist” PRS provider.
Fiona Fletcher-Smith, group chief executive of L&Q, said: “We’re proud to have built up a large and highly successful PRS business since entering the market in 2015.
“However in recent years, the social housing sector has faced economic volatility, policy shifts and funding uncertainties. In response, we have a clear strategy which is focused on simplifying our business, prioritising our core purpose as a social housing provider, and ensuring every L&Q resident has a safe and decent home with access to services they can rely on.
“The sale of Metra Living will support this drive, enabling us to invest even more in our existing homes and services, and support the delivery of our longer-term objectives to build more of the affordable homes this country so desperately needs.
“This sale represents an excellent investment opportunity for an investor seeking a large, stabilised PRS portfolio and operational platform in London.”
BNP Paribas has been appointed to advise on the sale.
The proposed Metra Living sale came four months after L&Q completed the sale of its strategic land business, L&Q Estates, to developer Urban & Civic for around £200m.
L&Q is also continuing to sell homes outside of its core areas of London and Manchester as part of a stock-rationalisation programme.
Earlier this month, the housing association posted a half-year deficit of £21m, stating that it recorded a £119m loss on the L&Q Estates sale.
Last week, Inside Housing interviewed Waqar Ahmed, L&Q’s long-serving group finance director, who is retiring in March after more than three decades in housing.
Last month Sanctuary, another large housing association, put a 5,600-bed portfolio of student accommodation on the market. The landlord said the potential sale would provide new investment in its existing affordable homes.
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