L&Q to launch ?47m supported housing subsidiary

Following its merger with East Thames group, which completed today, L&Q is preparing to embark on a £47m drive into care and supported accommodation, a business which it says it will grow over the coming years.

L&Q launched an unsuccessful attempt to enter the supported sector at the turn of the millennium – a business it closed around the year 2002, citing that the sector was too fundamentally different to the affordable housing provision it was accustomed to.

As it enters into the 90,000-home merger with L&Q, East Thames owns more than 1,500 supported accommodation units, which constitutes around 20% of its business and turns over £15-20m.

L&Q will add 5,100 sheltered and agency managed units, but these will now be brought under the management of the wholly owned subsidiary, L&Q Living. The new business is expected to turn over £47m.

The units are currently owned by L&Q but managed by external agencies.

Yvonne Arrowsmith, chief executive of East Thames, said: “[Care and supported living] has always been part of our DNA. It’s important to us that we get building [more homes] but that we also build affordably and grow our care and support.

“In our joint accommodation we have 5,000 people over the age of 75, and will have 9,000 over the next 10 years. This will help our tenants to downsize and will free up family homes as well as helping people regain their independence.”

David Montague, chief executive of L&Q, said: “[Our previous supported accommodation offer] was a poor-quality service and we were losing money. More recently we’ve thought: can a housing charity of our size really ignore the needs of a vulnerable and ageing population? We’ve been thinking about this a lot over the past two years. And East Thames has come along with the expertise we need.

“We’re building new towns now, and you can’t build a new town without thinking about older and vulnerable people, so it fits perfectly into our shared vision.”