Lloyds aiming to become giant UK landlord

Lloyds is planning to become one of the UK's biggest landlords as it aims to buy 50,000 homes in the next decade.

The banking giant is to charge tenants rent as a private landlord under its recently launched Citra Living brand.

The Financial Times, which first reported the story, said the bank was aiming to buy 10,000 homes by the end of 2025.

Lloyds is currently the largest mortgage lender in the UK, providing nearly one in four home loans.

Citra Living will initially start small and test its plans in the rental market, with a focus on buying and renting newly-built properties. Its first cohort of homes for rent will begin with 45 new apartments at Fletton Quays in Peterborough.

Lloyds has said the aim will be to acquire about 400 properties by the end of this year, and to double this target next year.

At the launch of Citra Living, Andy Hutchinson, managing director, said the intention was for the brand to work with leading housebuilders to identify sites and buy properties on them for tenants to rent.

"As well as ensuring continued support for the housebuilding sector, this will also help to address the increase in demand for rental properties at the same time," he said.

The Financial Times reported that if Lloyd hit its 2025 target, it would make Citra larger than the current size of Grainger, the UK's current largest private residential landlord, which owns about 9,100 properties and has a market capitalisation of £2.1bn.

Based on current property prices and rental estimates, this would create a portfolio worth £4 billion, generating pre-tax profits of around £300 million, the paper said.

Previously, the bank has been cautious on the potential for the new division, with finance chief William Chalmers saying expansion into the private rental market would be "on a limited basis while we explore the area".

Several big-name fund management groups and insurers have entered the private rental market in recent years, including Legal & General and M&G.

Retailer John Lewis recently announced plans to convert unused floor space in its department stores into rental homes.

Lloyds Banking Group announced in June it was closing another 44 branches, blaming a lack of customers at the sites as people move to digital banking.

A Lloyds spokeswoman told the BBC: "Citra Living will initially start small, with a focus on buying and renting good quality newly built properties.

"This will be achieved by working alongside leading housebuilders to address the increasing demand for rental properties, the aim is to gradually provide incremental stock to the UK rental market over the coming years."