Lodha Developers forecasts sales worth 1.5 billion pounds from London housing projects

India's leading realty firm, Lodha Developers is expecting sales revenue of 1.5 billion pounds (over Rs 12,000 crore) in the next three years from two ongoing housing projects in Central London.

The Mumbai-based firm is also looking to acquire more projects in London to grow the business. It had forayed into the realty market here in 2013 with the acquisition of the landmark MacDonald House at 1 Grosvenor Square in prime Central London from the Canadian government for over 300 million pounds (Rs 3,100 crore). The group acquired another site in prime Central London, New Court at 48 Carey Street for 90 million pounds in 2014. The company's arm, Lodha UK launched its first project Lincoln Square in 2016 and has so far achieved a sales booking of 170 million pounds. The second project 'No.1 Grosvenor Square', located in the heart of Mayfair, has been launched this week.

Abhishek Lodha Managing Director, Lodha Group

Our first two developments in London have started off on a strong footing. Over last 9-10 months, we have had sales of over 170 million and our Lincoln Square development, next to Covent Garden and LSE, is the most successful project in Central London over this period."

At the current prices, these two projects together will generate revenue of 1.5 billion (over Rs 12,000 crore), he said, adding that these would provide the group a potential to further grow business in the British capital. Lodha exuded confidence that the company would deliver "high quality product" in the Central London, which he said is the most competitive and demanding market in the world. In the Grosvenor Square project, he said the company has done pre-sales at over 6,000 pounds per sq ft (Rs 5 lakh per sq ft). The company also intends to take forward its learnings about quality and design from the London market to India business, he added.

Last month, Lodha group's UK arm raised 290 million pounds (Rs 2,400 crore) from investment company Cain Hoy to fund construction activities for its Lincoln Square development. Asked about further expansion in the London market, Lodha UK Director Gabriel York said the company is looking for new sites in the city for development and expects to acquire some properties in the next one next year. While the Lincoln Square project has 221 housing units, including few penthouses being sold at a price range of 1 million pound to 13 million pounds, the housing project at Grosvenor Square will have 39 apartments and 5 duplexes with starting price of 7.5 million pound. Lodha UK is targeting to complete the two projects by 2019.

The Lodha group is currently developing around 41 million sq ft area and it has 31 ongoing projects across London, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It has a land bank of 350 million sq ft for future development. In the last fiscal, Lodha group's sales bookings rose by 30% to about Rs 8,500 crore driven by growth in the domestic market as well as London.