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Association in £100m guaranteed debt deal
A housing association has received £100m of government-guaranteed debt to build 645 new homes.
Viridian Housing Association has taken the finance from the government-guaranteed aggregator Affordable Housing Finance (AHF).
The debt is made up of £50m from its recent bond issue and a £50m loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The final interest rates are yet to be finalised, but are expected to be below 3%, Viridian said.
The cash forms part of the Affordable Homes Guarantees Programme (AHGP) – a government programme of £3.5bn of guaranteed debt, which ran until March this year.
AHF has some guarantees still to use up and is likely to continue issuing debt into 2017. However, the licence will not be renewed.
The 645 homes form part of Viridian’s plan to build 1,200 by 2019.
Nick Apetroaie, chief executive at Viridian, added: “This is great news for the many people in need of housing who are going to benefit from our ambitious development program. The fact that we have been granted this funding shows the level of confidence lenders have in Viridian’s finances, operational delivery and business plans.”
Piers Williamson, chief executive of AHF, said: “It’s rewarding to see that the success of the Affordable Homes Guarantee Programme is bringing direct benefits to Viridian and its mission to build much-needed homes.”
