bLEND, a subsidiary of The Housing Finance Corporation (THFC), has created a “new form” of flexible loan facility with its £100m offer to VIVID Homes.
bLEND says the facility will provide flexibility for VIVID, giving it up to three years to draw down in smaller amounts if required.
The approach aims to support VIVID’s development programme and provide flexibility on when to lock in long-term rates.
Following the addition of VIVID to the bLEND portfolio, Moody’s also reaffirmed bLEND’s A2 negative rating.
VIVID set itself a target of building 17,000 new affordable homes between 2017 and 2027.
VIVID is an adopter of the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRS) and will be incorporated into bLEND’s SRS report in the 2023 reporting season.
Gavin Richards, relationship manager at bLEND who worked with VIVID to establish the loan, said: “It has been great working with the team at VIVID to develop a flexible approach to their liquidity and funding requirements and strengthening our support of one of the strongest and most ambitious housing associations.”
Arun Poobalasingam, head of Relationship Management and Product Development at THFC, said: “We are delighted to agree this loan facility with VIVID.
“We believe that the flexibility we can offer associations makes THFC attractive in the current economic environment, where borrowers need to move quickly to take advantage of potential long-term funding opportunities.”
Hampshire-based VIVID serves approximately 72,000 customers in around 33,000 homes.
Duncan Brown, CFO at VIVID, said: “In an unpredictable market, we’re keen to have a range of options for accessing liquidity when we need it.
“The flexibility this new facility offers is a great addition to our portfolio – we enjoy working with the team at THFC and are really pleased with this new product.”
The Housing Finance Corporation is a UK-based affordable housing aggregator, with over £8bn of lending to around 160 housing associations in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.
Image credit: jwohlfeil/Shutterstock
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