How L&Q manages its finances

Find out where money comes from, how we plan to spend and invest it, how we set our budget and how we manage our finances.

Our approach to financial management

Managing our finances well helps us invest in homes and services, support communities, build new affordable homes and remain financially strong.

For more detail about how we plan to invest in homes, services and communities, read our Financial Control and Resilience strategic plan.

Where money comes from

We receive income from a range of sources. Our largest source of income is rent from residents.

Other sources of income include:

service charges, which residents pay towards the cost of providing particular services to their homes, buildings and estates
sales of new homes
sales of some properties and land that are no longer part of our long-term plans
income from other parts of L&Q's work, including L&Q Energy, management services we provide to other landlords and supported living services

We use this income to provide services, maintain and improve homes, invest in new affordable housing and meet the costs of running L&Q.

Service charges are separate from rent and pay towards particular services.

Find out more about service charges and what they pay for

Grants and other funding

Government funding has helped L&Q and other housing associations build affordable homes for many years. This means some of the homes we own today were built partly with public money.

We have a responsibility to protect this investment and help make sure it continues to support affordable housing. In some circumstances, for example when a home that received grant funding is sold, we may be able to reuse some of that grant to help provide other affordable homes. This is known as recycling grant funding.

We work with organisations, like Homes England and the Greater London Authority, which provide funding to help build affordable homes and improve existing homes.

We also borrow money over the long term to help pay for improvements to existing homes and build new affordable homes. Spreading the cost over many years helps us manage this investment.

Grants and other funding allow us to invest more in homes and communities, but rent remains our largest source of income.

How we plan to spend money

We use money to maintain and improve residents' homes, provide services and manage our organisation.

Our main areas of spending include:

day-to-day repairs and planned maintenance
major works and building safety
managing homes and providing services to residents
investing in existing homes
building and buying new affordable homes
running our organisation and providing other services

Our priorities and the amount we spend in different areas can change from year to year.

We publish information about our financial performance in our annual financial statements.

Investment in homes

Maintaining and improving residents' homes is an important part of how we use money.

Our investment includes:

day-to-day repairs
planned maintenance
major works
building safety improvements
replacing components such as kitchens, bathrooms, windows, doors and roofs

This work helps us maintain homes and meet relevant safety and quality standards, including the the Decent Homes Standard.

How we set our budget

Every year, we prepare a budget and a longer-term financial plan.

When developing these plans, we consider:

what residents tell us they need
the condition of residents' homes
government regulations and requirements
inflation and expected costs
the income we expect to receive
demand for housing
future risks and opportunities
how we can deliver good value for money

This helps us decide how to balance the money available with the need to maintain homes, provide services and invest for the future.

Our budget and financial planning also support the priorities in our corporate strategy.

How we oversee our finances

We have checks and controls in place to make sure our finances are managed responsibly and financial risks are identified and managed.

Our Group Board, Audit and Risk Committee, senior leaders and finance and service teams are all responsible for overseeing our finances.

Find out how we govern and oversee our finances

More information about our finances

Our financial statements provide detailed information about our financial performance, including our income, spending, borrowing, assets and investment.

Read our Financial statements 2025/26 (PDF, 6.8MB)

Some financial terms can be difficult to understand. Our performance information glossary explains the terms we use when reporting our financial performance.

Reporting period: 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027
Last updated: September 2026