L&Q enters joint venture with Manchester landlord

The 70,000-home, London-based behemoth will join forces with 9,000-home Trafford Housing Trust in a 50/50 joint venture.

Both parties will invest £80m into the project, which is intended to deliver 2,000 homes across Greater Manchester and the North West region over four years.

It marks L&Q’s first joint venture outside its base in the South East of England, and supports its long-standing commitment to help local associations develop.

The landlords said the joint venture would allow them to develop the homes more quickly than each could individually.

Half of the homes will be for market rent or sale, with 25% for affordable rent and 25% for affordable homes for first-time buyers - in line with L&Q’s typical development model.

L&Q is currently working on a merger with East Thames, after Hyde Housing backed away from a planned mega-merger last week.

In a statement, the organisations said L&Q will bring strong financial capacity and development expertise to the joint venture, while Trafford Housing Trust brings its financial strength alongside its local knowledge and connection with the community.

In 2015 the trust launched a dedicated property arm, Laurus Homes, to build for outright sale.

The joint venture agreement will reach beyond Trafford to incorporate projects in Stockport and Salford, with a plan to develop further schemes across the North West, including projects in Cheshire and Cumbria.

Initially the joint venture aims to develop around 500 new homes a year. Legal arrangements for the joint venture are expected to be completed this autumn, with the first housing schemes due to commence in early 2017.

David Montague, chief executive of L&Q, said: “While L&Q’s commitment to London and the South East remains unchanged, we continue to look for innovative opportunities that enable us to do more to tackle the growing housing crisis throughout the country.”

Matthew Gardiner, chief executive of Trafford Housing Trust, says: “In L&Q we have found a progressive and like-minded partner that shares our ambitions to build more homes and to help more people out of poverty.”