In April 1948, after winning the Third Division (South) championship, the club bought the freehold of the stadium plus 39 houses in Loftus Road and Ellerslie Road for £26,250 financed by a share flotation that raised £30,000. When the club's finances were under pressure in the late 1950s the houses had to be sold. On 5 October 1953 floodlights were used at Loftus Road for the first time for a friendly game against Arsenal. In the summer of 1966 the original floodlights were replaced by much taller floodlight pylons. In the summer of 1980 these in turn were replaced with new floodlights.
