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Care specialist becomes latest housing association to access Bank of England COVID-19 scheme
England’s largest provider of specialist housing and care to older people, Anchor Hanover, has increased its liquidity by £140m via the Bank of England’s (BoE) coronavirus liquidity scheme.
Anchor Hanover becomes the ninth housing association to sell short-term debt to the BoE through the Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF), taking the institution’s total support for the sector since the onset of the pandemic to £1.2bn.
Sarah Jones, chief financial officer at Anchor Hanover, said the landlord remains “financially robust” but that the coronavirus pandemic has increased costs where it has been necessary to safeguard residents and colleagues from the virus, especially in its care business.
“As a result of this, we accessed the Covid Corporate Financing Facility to reduce our interest charges, which goes some small way in offsetting the additional costs incurred.
“As a not-for-profit organisation, the benefits of accessing this facility will help us to maintain our ongoing commitment to continuing to provide homes where people love living in later life.”
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Bank of England support for sector tops £1bn as three more housing associations join COVID-19 scheme
The Regulator of Social Housing has also acknowledged the increased costs for care and support landlords brought on by the pandemic; its monthly survey found that many are concerned about costs and access to personal protective equipment in the future.
It also called on smaller care and supported housing providers to get in contact if they were facing financial difficulties during the pandemic.
On 10 September, the BoE held £17.bn in commercial paper sold by 65 businesses such as British Airways, easyJet and Lendlease.
The housing associations to have accessed the CCFF scheme are: L&Q, Optivo, Platform Housing Group, Flagship Homes, PA Housing, Places for People, Notting Hill Genesis and Aster Group.
Inside Housing’s sister publication Social Housing previously reported that housing associations with V2 gradings for financial viability were blocked from the scheme.
This rule was then overturned by the BoE, though only one V2-rated association – Notting Hill Genesis – has so far accessed the CCFF.
