Large North West landlord secures £225m of new funding to help ‘ambitious’ development push

The funding includes sustainability-linked measures which include a reduced interest rate if Great Places hits agreed energy-efficiency targets on new and existing homes, a spokesperson told Inside Housing.

Mike Gerrard, chief financial officer of Great Places, said: “The additional funds will enable us to continue our ambitious development plans, improve our existing housing stock and make a real difference in the communities we serve.”

In its 2024-27 corporate plan, Great Places committed to build around 4,000 new affordable homes and improve its current homes.

Last September, the group was handed a C2 grade by the regulator after it found “weaknesses” in the landlord’s “approach and oversight of health and safety risks”.

The latest funding deal comes just over a year after Great Places agreed new revolving credit facilities with Santander, NatWest and ABN AMRO worth £284m.

Last month, Great Places reported unaudited annual results which showed a pre-tax surplus of £27.2m in the year to the end of March 2025. A turnover figure was not disclosed.

The surplus was up on last year’s audited figure of £23.6m.

Savills Financial Consultants advised Great Places on the new funding deal.

Mike Roche, a director at Savills, said: “The high quality of the work by Great Places has allowed us to swiftly agree these deals with existing lenders NatWest and Santander – and, of course, to build a strong relationship with new Great Places partner Nationwide.”

Great Places currently has a G1/V2 rating with regulator, as well as its C2.