Gladedale Homes will today announce a debt-for-equity swap with Lloyds Banking Group. The deal should end more than two years of financial uncertainty at the housebuilder, which has a £1bn debt pile.

Gladedale is one of the UK’s largest private housebuilders, with 2,000 annual home sales. Lloyds took on its loans when it acquired HBOS and is expected to take preference shares in the company in exchange for writing off £500m of debt.

Funding from HBOS’ corporate finance division drove Gladedale’s rapid acquisitive growth, helping it to become one of the UK’s 10 largest housebuilders. But the company has struggled to cope with its debt and last filed accounts in 2006.

Financial Times