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Northern housing association Great Places has issued a £145m bond tap.
The 19,000-home association added the tap onto its existing £200m bond issuance, bringing the total value of that bond up to £345m.
Initially, it has sold only £75m of the bond to six investors on a 25-year maturity, retaining the rest of the money for a later date. It achieved an interest rate 1.4% more expensive than the cost of government borrowing, at a total rate of 3.34%
Great Places plans to use the money to support its ongoing development programme.
The original bond was issued in December 2012, with the association drawing down from it at various points after that. It drew down the final £18m chunk in October 2014, achieving an interest rate just 1.02% more expensive than government borrowing.
Link Asset Services advised Great Places on the issue. David Whelan, managing director at Link Asset Services, said: “We would like to congratulate all involved at Great Places Housing Group on this excellent result.”
In January, experts predicted a busy start to the year for housing associations in the bond market.
Last month, London’s largest housing association, L&Q, completed its second £500m bond in just seven months, pricing it at 1.18% and 1.35% more expensive than government borrowing, for the short and long-term loans respectively.
More recently, Croydon-based Optivo issued a £250m bond, with the same spread as Great Places, at 1.4% more expensive than government borrowing.