Outgoing Lend Lease chair plans buy-to-let scheme

The outgoing chair of Lend Lease Europe has said he is considering buying up unsold flats and turning them into student houses when he leaves the organisation at Christmas.

Nigel Hugill, who announced his retirement from his current job looking after construction of the Olympic village earlier this month, said the move was a “definite possibility”.

The news comes as Sir Bob Kerslake, the boss of the government’s planned housing and regeneration super-quango, said he was talking to developers and institutions about similar schemes to turn unsold flats into private rented accommodation.

Hugill said the housing boom had led to a disproportionate number of poor quality new-build flats coming on the market, particularly in cities outside the capital. “These will end up having to be auctioned off at about

30-35% of their asking price, but they’re just not suitable for social housing. I want to turn them into student accommodation.”

Hugill said plans were at an early stage, and declined to say who might back the scheme.

Hugill’s move comes as many social landlords are refusing to buy up much of the unsold private housing because they do not meet usual social housing standards. This is despite the fact the government has set aside £200m for social landlords to buy unsold properties and turn them into affordable rented homes.

Kerslake, the chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency, said he accepted that social landlords were unlikely to take on much excess stock. “However, if there’s a joint venture model where those homes could be taken off the sale market and turned into private rented housing, that’s something we’re keen to help with,” he said. He added he had taken part in discussions on the subject that were at “very early stages”.

“If people have built poor quality flats in areas where there is over-supply then they’ll have to manage that situation,” he said.