Lloyds puts £100m worth of HBOS property up for sale

Over 700 luxury rental properties across the UK could be up for sale as Lloyds Banking Group disposes assets inherited from the Bank of Scotland.

Many of the properties include those originally bought by HBOS-backed development firm Heritor’s before the Bank of Scotland’s takeover by Lloyds. Heritor’s has since fallen into administration, with PricewaterhouseCoopers being appointed as administrators.

Heritor’s portfolios include some of Scotland’s most prestigious addresses, including Edinburgh’s India Street, according to in The Scotsman newspaper.
Lloyds is also rumoured to be selling two other high-profile portfolios owned by letting agent Grant Management. A portfolio of £100 million that takes in property across Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling and Manchester, could up for grabs if the current speculation is correct.

However, a spokesperson for the bank has declined to comment and Peter Grant, chief executive of Grant Management, said he was unaware of plans to sell the properties on the open market “at the moment” and that they were “trading as normal”.

It is thought the banking giant is choosing to dispose of its assets now whilst residential prices are relatively stable.

The news follows similar revelations last week when Lloyds announced its intention to sell a development site at 110 Queen Street in Glasgow, formerly HBOS offices.

The site had been earmarked by Australian firm Valad for a £40 million development scheme that would transform it for retail and office use, but was left redundant when the recession hit.