UK bank Lloyds is to convert an old data center and office site into social housing.
The company this week announced plans to redevelop decommissioned group data centers and former office sites into new social housing projects.
Subject to planning permission, the first redevelopment in Pudsey, West Yorkshire, will create up to 80 new homes that could be available for social rent.
The construction of the first site in Pudsey, formerly an office and data center, is set to commence in 2026.
The bank said a full review of its legacy real estate portfolio is currently underway, with more announcements being finalized.
Charlie Nunn, Lloyds Banking Group CEO, said: “Everyone has the right to build a future from the foundation of a secure home. Social housing is part of this country’s critical infrastructure, and we need to direct and increase investment into the right homes, in the places they’re needed most. Lloyds Banking Group has provided £17 billion of support to the sector since 2018 and today we also have announced our plans to redevelop decommissioned group data centers and former office sites for new housing projects - and I would encourage others to also consider this.”
The data center is located at 50 Cote Lane on the border of Pudsey and Farsley, between Leeds and Bradford.
A JG-D case study suggests the site saw two 600 sqm (6,460 sq ft) data halls built out around 2002. The company previously said it was to close and sell the office back in 2020, relocating staff to its site in Lovell Park, Leeds.
The bank has long been on a journey of migrating away from on-premises and into the cloud.
In 2017 Lloyds signed a 10-year cloud outsourcing deal with IBM worth £1.3 billion. The agreement saw around 1,500 Lloyds staff and contractors to be shipped over to Big Blue.
While never officially confirmed, it was reported that the bank would also be selling a number of its data centers to the technology company and paying IBM for their operation. Around the time of the deal, Lloyds was said to operate facilities in Copley, Pudsey, Peterborough, and Corby.
In 2020, Lloyds signed cloud deals with both Azure and Google Cloud, and claimed its tech stack “includes GCP, Azure, OpenShift, and Kubernetes.”
In 2022 Lloyds said it was planning to close its data center in Copley, West Yorkshire, by 2025 as part of a modernization plan for its Halifax Bank unit's HQ in Halifax town. Another JG-D case study suggests the site also saw two 600 sqm (6,460 sq ft) data halls built out around 2002.
