According to an internal job advertisement seen by Financial Times, Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L), plans to be one of the UK’s largest landlords with targets to purchase 50,000 homes by 2030.
This move is in conjunction with Citra Living, the bank’s brand that pushes it into private home rental markets.
Lloyds is diversifying its lending offerings away from traditional loans as low-interest rates continue to hold.
A spokesperson for Lloyds said that Citra Living would initially be small and will focus on renting high-quality, newly constructed properties.
“This will be possible by working with leading housebuilders to meet the growing demand for rental properties. Over the next few years, we will gradually increase the stock available for the UK rental market.
The bank will take a staged approach to its push into the property market and has recently signed a strategic partnership with property development firm Barratt Developments (BDEV.L).
According to the FT, Citra set a strategic challenge by owning 10,000 properties by 2025 and increasing that number to 50,000 by 2030. The advertisement stated that the balance sheet would have a value of approximately PS4bn by 2025 and generate around PS300m in profit before taxes.
In July, the UK’s largest mortgage lender began its Citra push. It purchased 45 flats in Peterborough’s Fletton Quays development as its first purchase. It stated that it was aiming to acquire 400 properties by the end of the year and 800 by 2022.
Retail banks have struggled in the past to diversify outside of their core business areas. Lloyds’s previous push into PPI cost them more than PS20bn in compensation for plans that were mis-sold.
