THFC completes £30m deal for Abri Group
22.05.24
The Housing Finance Corporation (THFC), the UK’s leading affordable housing aggregator, is pleased to announce a new £30m deal. The aggregator raised £30m in the capital markets for The Swaythling Housing Society Limited, a subsidiary of the Abri group.
The Abri group is one of the largest social housing providers in the south of England, with 50,000 homes and assets and 114,000 residents living in them.
THFC was able to arrange a deal that suited Abri’s requirements for a shorter maturity date of 12 years. NatWest served as bookrunner on the £30m deal, which achieved a rate of 5.74%.
The Abri group has a target to build at least 10,000 new homes by 2030 by investing more than £2.6bn. The group has allocated 75% of its new build programme to social and affordable housing and has plans to maximise the number of homes delivered through Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).
This deal reinforces THFC and bLEND’s reputation as a crucial source of finance for housing associations that are determined to tackle the housing crisis by building new affordable homes. To date, bLEND has provided more than £1.5bn in finance and facilities to 33 borrowers across the UK.
Vimal Gaglani, Director of Treasury and Financial Planning at Abri said: “At Abri, we believe that everyone deserves a safe, warm and sustainable place to call home, and we are very pleased to have secured £30m through bLEND at a rate and maturity that meets our needs. We are grateful to THFC for their support and partnership in securing this loan, which will allow us to continue our work in providing affordable housing for the communities we serve in the south of England.”
Priya Nair, Chief Executive of THFC, said: “THFC is delighted to announce the lending of £30m to Swaythling Housing Society, part of the Abri Group. This deal demonstrates bLEND’s flexibility, making it a useful source of finance to borrowers. Abri has a proven track record of providing quality, affordable homes for people in the south of England. As such, we are proud to continue this relationship with Abri and look forward to witnessing the social impact they will generate over the coming years.”
Sharon Woodward, Relationship Manager who facilitated the deal, said: “It has been a pleasure working with the Abri team to arrange this deal, which will allow Abri financial flexibility as they press ahead with their development plans. Abri is an incredibly strong organisation in terms of financial metrics and executive management, and we are confident that they will continue to build upon this solid foundation as they build much needed affordable housing in the south of England.”
Notes to editors:
About THFC
THFC has been the UK’s leading affordable housing aggregator for more than three decades, providing innovative funding solutions for over 160 housing associations across all four nations of the UK. THFC has amassed a loan book of over £8.2bn to date and continues to expand its range of financial products to serve the needs of the social housing sector. THFC has made significant contributions toward solving the UK’s affordable housing crisis, having funded 32,000+ homes under Affordable Housing Finance plc, which oversaw the government’s initial Affordable Housing Guarantee Scheme. The aggregator launched bLEND, a direct subsidiary, in 2018 and unveiled THFC Sustainable Finance (TSF), a £2bn sustainable finance vehicle, in 2023.
About Abri
Abri is a large housing provider who own and manage more than 50,000 homes and various community assets, serving 114,000 customers. Silva Homes joined Abri in October 2023 making the group a financially stronger and more resilient organisation. To help deliver our services Abri work with 36 local authorities and 63 different parliamentary constituencies alongside partners in our community.
Silva will operate as separate legal entity under the Abri Group umbrella before fully transferring in 2024.
More information about Abri and its strategic objectives can be found at www.abri.co.uk