L&Q's financial performance: 2025/26
Find out about our income, surplus, assets, borrowing and financial position for the 2025/26 financial year, and how this supports investment in homes and services.
Financial performance at a glance
How we use our surplus
A surplus means that, over the year, our income was higher than our costs after taking account of other financial items.
As a charitable housing association, we do not pay profits to shareholders. We reinvest the money we generate to support our work, including:
- improving existing social homes
- keeping homes safe and well maintained
- building new affordable homes
- providing services for residents
- supporting communities
- helping to make sure L&Q remains financially secure over the long term
Having a surplus is also important because it helps us maintain our financial strength. It gives lenders confidence that we can repay the money we borrow, helping us access funding for long-term investment in homes and services.
Our surplus in 2025/26
Our overall surplus was £44 million, compared with a restated £23 million in 2024/25.
Our operating surplus, which looks at the money generated through our activities before interest and some other financial costs, was £245 million, compared with £367 million the previous year.
The lower operating surplus reflects several factors, including higher spending on maintaining and repairing homes and lower income from property sales.
Investing in homes
Providing safe, decent and affordable homes remains our priority.
During 2025/26, we invested £415 million in existing homes, up from £371 million the previous year. This included spending on repairs, planned maintenance and improvements to residents' homes.
We also completed 2,055 new homes, with 72% provided for social housing.
We are putting more money into existing homes and services. This can put pressure on some of our financial measures in the short-term, but is intended to support better homes and services for residents over the longer-term.
Homes and other property
Homes and other property are an important part of L&Q’s long-term financial position.
At 31 March 2026, our housing properties were recorded in our accounts at £11.6 billion. This is an accounting figure that takes account of factors such as depreciation. It is not the current market value of our homes.
Our housing properties, together with our income and careful management of our finances, help support our ability to invest in homes and services over the long term.
Our borrowing
We use borrowing to help fund long-term investment, including improvements to existing social homes and the development of new affordable homes.
At 31 March 2026, our net debt was £5.1 billion, down from £5.4 billion the previous year.
Net debt means the money we have borrowed, after taking account of the cash we hold.
We manage our borrowing carefully, so we can continue to run our services and invest in homes while meeting our financial commitments to lenders.
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 2025 to 31 March 2026
Last updated: September 2026