Pocket Living secures £100million funding to accelerate housing delivery for first-time buyers

February 27, 2023 / Rory Wilkinson
Pocket Living secures £100million funding to accelerate housing delivery for first-time buyers

Pocket Living has secured a new senior debt package with Lloyds Bank of up to £100million which it will use to drive the continued delivery of affordable homes specifically for London’s first-time buyers.

This is Pocket Living’s third facility with Lloyds Bank, which collectively has funded over 1,000 homes to date and will remain as the developer’s principal senior lender.

Lloyds Bank’s initial commitment to the debt facility of £24.2million will fund Pocket Living’s 100% affordable development in Harrow, which is expected to be complete in August 2024 and will deliver 149 one-bedroom homes with a 20% discount in market value for local first-time buyers living and working in Harrow.

The development forms part of a wider commitment from the housing developer to deliver a further 1,500 homes over the next five years; many of which it intends to fund through the accordion feature in the Lloyds Bank facility.

As part of the funding, Pocket has also signed an agreement with Legendre UK, the main contractor for the Harrow development, to provide an unsecured loan of £2.5million to fund the start of construction. This collaboration is the first of its kind for Pocket Living and will closely align the organisations’ commercial interests.

Paul Rickard, chief financial officer at Pocket Living, commented: “We have built over 1,000 first-time buyer homes with Lloyds Bank and this new funding allows us to not only build on that with up to a further £100million in development funding, but also introduces important new flexibilities that allow us to partner in a new way, including with Legendre UK.”

“With this vote of confidence and by introducing new ways of working in response to the current market challenges, we will be able to deliver even more affordable homes for London.”

Chris Middleton, finance director at Pocket Living, said: “It was great to secure our third facility with Lloyds Bank which, in turn, has created a stable platform for delivering our future pipeline. We have circa 1,000 homes in our forward look plan which will be coming forward for construction funding over the next few years. How we fund these homes is critical and this new facility will be part of that solution.”

Sam Shah, director and alternative residential lead at Lloyds Bank, said: “We’re proud to support Pocket Living to create affordable, quality housing, making buying a home in London accessible for more people, particularly first-time buyers. Through our support, 1,000 affordable homes have been built in the city, and we look forward to working with Pocket Living on unlocking future housing opportunities in the capital.”

Thomas Vandecasteele, managing director at Legendre UK, commented: “We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Pocket Living. As the second of its kind for Legendre UK, this collaboration underscores our unwavering commitment to the UK market. Our solution-focused approach and dedication to working closely with our clients are clearly reflected in this partnership.”

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