Lloyds the landlord: how the bank quietly became a big rental property player

Already the UK’s largest mortgage lender, Lloyds set out plans four years ago to buy 50,000 rental homes by 2030 to become the country’s biggest landlord. It now has 7,000. Photograph: David Burton/Alamy

The black horse of Lloyds’ banks is a familiar sight on UK high streets, but the lender has quietly become one of the country’s biggest landlords, too, amassing £2bn in residential property, according to analysis.

The company has reached the landmark valuation on its property assets after a drive to buy more than 7,000 properties, in news first reported by the Financial Times.