We have secured new funding to support our "building locally" ambition to deliver 500 much-needed new affordable homes for our communities. The funding has been secured with launch of the inaugural bond issued as part of the government-backed Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme (“AHGS”), managed by ARA Venn.
We are one of three social housing providers included in the 30-year bond issue, which has raised a total of £350m, of which £265m is funded immediately and on-lent to the recipients involved.
Announcing the new funding, our Executive Director (Finance), Alex Shelock said:
Thanks to the government guarantee on the bond, the cost of borrowing is much more affordable and is passed directly on to us as the borrower. The knock-on impact of this is that we can continue to grow the business in a responsible way.
“We see how urgently new homes are needed in our borough, but we cannot ignore the importance of investing in our existing homes or improve services for our existing customers. Getting that balance is a challenge for all housing associations, but schemes like this which offer access to affordable debt make a significant difference.
This is B3Living’s first bond issue with ARA Venn. The funding will contribute towards the development of new schemes in and around the Borough of Broxbourne, such as our sites at Rye Road, High Leigh, Newgatestreet Road and Stoneshot Farm as well as upcoming projects using our land banked sites. Click here to see the homes currently in development