L&Q's £3bn upgrade transforms homes and delivers £23m of social value

In the last year, L&Q’s ten major works investment programme partners have carried out work to 1,595 kitchens, 1,543 bathrooms, 1,519 windows and 175 roofs.

L&Q, who house 250,000 residents in 105,000 homes have also worked with its partners to deliver more than £23m of social value in the neighbourhoods it serves. This has included 860 weeks of work delivered through apprenticeships, the revamping of community spaces, the running of classes for residents, and lots more. 

In 2023 L&Q partnered with ten organisations as part of a 15-year programme, believed to be the largest in the sector.  

The programme will see the housing association spend around £3bn to improve the safety, comfort and environmental performance of residents’ homes, including the instalment of 48,000 new kitchens and 42,000 bathrooms.

As part of the programme, 27 full-time jobs and 92 weeks of work experience have also been provided for the community. 

Many of these are L&Q residents, including Yogesh, who started as a Resident Liaison Officer for Durkan, another one of L&Q’s Major Works partners, last summer. Yogesh said: “I’m enjoying it very much. 

“They’ve shown me everything, even stuff outside of what I need to know which is great, because knowledge is power. It’s been great learning the ropes. 

“Being an L&Q resident has helped me a lot with the role. I have that extra intel on problems or situations that other residents might be dealing with.”

From June, L&Q will also be including their North West stock in the programme, ensuring all residents’ homes will be improved. 

Mark Newstead, Director of Major Programmes for L&Q, said: “The Major Works Investment Programme has had an incredible first year, and it’s been great to hear some of the wonderful feedback we’ve had so far from residents. 

“We’re wholeheartedly committed to investing in residents’ homes to make sure to make sure they’re modern and comfortable and they meet their needs. I’m so pleased that we’ll also be tackling rising energy costs by increasing the efficiency of residents’ homes.

“Like with all projects of this scale, we will use any lessons learnt in the first year to improve our programme in the coming year. We’ll be improving even more homes and supporting our fantastic partners to deliver even more social value in the communities we serve.”

L&Q’s ten partners are: Amber Construction, Axis Europe, Breyer Group, Durkan, Equans, Foster, Kier Places, Morgan Sindall, Property Services, United Living and Wates.

Behind these numbers are the stories of residents whose lives have been changed by the improvements made to their homes and you can hear from these residents below.

Colette Thomas, Stockwell – had new windows installed

“It’s impacted my daily life. Before, in the winter I would basically live in my bedroom because it was the warmest room. My living room was really cold.

“I wouldn’t even bother turning the radiator on as it wouldn’t do anything. 

“Last winter I was able to stay in the living room because it stays warm now. The windows have made such a difference. It’s cosy now.

“You’ve got to feel like you can trust workers in your house, and I could. The amount of communication I received was brilliant. They were onsite all day and that presence made it feel as though they weren’t contractors. It felt like they were just part of L&Q.”

 

Ian Ricketts, Camberwell – had new kitchen and bathroom installed

“They lowered it, which is just amazing. It’s so much better. It's much easier to wash up and it’s far less dangerous to cook. 

“I’ve always cooked before, but I had to use a perching stool, which made it awkward.

“It’s much easier now. I made spaghetti bolognaise the other day and was able to chop up all the vegetables and it was so much better.

“The workmen were really good. They were done within a week and they did a great job.”