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

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

Lloyds Bank’s initial commitment to the debt facility of £24.2 million will fund Pocket’s affordable development at Sheepcote Road in Harrow. The 100% affordable scheme is expected to complete in August 2024 and will deliver 149 one-bedroom homes which will be available at a 20% discount to market value to 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 Pocket intends to fund through the accordion feature in the Lloyds Bank facility.

Legendre UK is the main contractor at Sheepcote Road and is a subsidiary of Groupe Legendre, a large French real estate development and construction business.

Commercial interests

As part of the funding for Sheepcote Road, Pocket has also signed an agreement with Legendre UK to provide an unsecured loan of £2.5 million to fund the start of construction. This collaboration is the first of its kind for Pocket and will closely align the organisations’ commercial interests. Pocket is immensely excited by this new partnership.

The Greater London Authority (GLA) will continue to provide land and planning funding ahead of Lloyds Bank funding the remainder of the construction.

Paul Rickard, Chief Financial Officer at Pocket Living, said “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.”