£225m fund for new affordable homes in Aylesbury Vale
The Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust is able to move plans forward
Improving existing homes and building 1,000 new affordable ones - that's what the Vale of Aylesbury Housing Trust is going to do with £225-million.
They have taken out long-term loans and had investment to get their plan for the next few years going, including becoming carbon-neutral.
A restructuring of debt
Handelsbanken and Nationwide Building Society are providing £100m of new loan facilities and £125m new funding has been raised via long term private placement (PP) with two institutional investors. Barclays Bank remains the principal bank lender to the Group.
The restructuring provides the Trust with a diverse portfolio of banking and institutional facilities with modern covenants designed to facilitate its future growth.
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The restructuring has taken place during the Covid crisis and the Trust was delighted by the level of interest shown by both the institutional and banking market in its business.
In the end the banks and institutions selected offered the best terms and pricing, with the long term PP, drawable in 2021 and 2022, locking in rates of circa 2.50% for around 30 years.
Plans can move forward
Stephen Stringer, Chair of the Trust Board said:
"We are delighted to have concluded this refinancing exercise. The new funding will enable us to deliver our growth strategy, continue our investment in existing homes and help drive our environmental plans towards having a zero carbon footprint.
"We are maintaining our long term relationship with our existing funder, Barclays, as well as welcoming new lenders and investors to the group.
"The Trust is being shown a large number of opportunities, and the new funds will allow us to select those that meet our criteria and ambitions and enable us to continue delivering new homes for those most in housing need."
The Trust was supported by a team of advisers throughout the process including Chatham Financial as debt and structuring adviser, Devonshires and Morrison & Foerster (on the PP) providing legal counsel and JLL on property valuation.
Santander arranged the Private Placement.