Lloyds to quadruple Citra budget to £1bn

Lloyds will quadruple its private rental war chest to £1bn under a new strategy to expand its property interests. New chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, Charlie Nunn, has been plotting the strategy since he took over in August. The former HSBC executive will announce the plans in February. Nunn is reportedly considering quadrupling the budget of Citra Living, Lloyds’ new private home rental market brand, raising it to an initial £1bn from £250m. The number has not been finalised and could increase further. The bank had previously set a “strategic challenge” of owning 10,000 residential rental properties by the end of 2025, with a further aim to reach 50,000 by 2030 – which would make it one of the UK’s largest landlords. Hitting the first target means Citra would have a balance sheet worth around £4bn and generate circa £300m in additional pre-tax profit. The quadrupling in funding planned by Nunn marks a far stronger commitment to expanding the business. As recently as October, chief financial officer William Chalmers played down the bank’s ambitions in the area, calling Citra an “exploratory exercise”. The FT (£) To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews