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Midlands housing association borrows £30m from pension insurer
West Midlands-based housing association Accord has secured an additional £30m to help it build new homes in its development pipeline.
The 13,000-home association has borrowed a further £30m from the Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), which will be used to support its development plans as a Homes England strategic partner.
The loan has a 35-year maturity so will need to be repaid in 2054.
The money comes a year after Accord secured £100m from the PIC through a private placement in June 2018.
This loan had a range of maturities over a 30-year period, which are designed to match the PIC’s obligations to pay pensions in years when it is difficult to find cash from the public bond markets.
In October last year, Accord-led consortium the Matrix Partnership was chosen as one of Homes England’s strategic partners, securing £77m to start an additional 2,257 new homes by 2022.
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The other members of the Matrix Partnership are: The Pioneer Group, Rooftop Housing Group, Trent & Dove, Trident Group, WATMOS Community Homes, Black Country Housing Group, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and WM Housing.
Before securing the cash through Homes England, Accord planned to deliver 1,300 new homes between 2018 and 2023.
The PIC is a major investor in the social housing sector. Last month it lent EMH Group £100m as part of a long-term private placement.
Scottish landlord Eildon Housing Association also took on a £40m loan last month.
Stuart Fisher, executive director of resources at Accord, said: “This additional long-term funding will support Accord’s ambitions to build more affordable homes and quality services to our customers, especially through the New Ways of Working Programme.
“This funding package been secured at an attractive rate representing extremely good value in the market, and we are delighted to once again partner with PIC, a well-established and respected funder to the social housing sector.”
Marno Jooste, debt origination manager at PIC, said: “We are delighted to have worked with Accord again to provide funding for much-needed affordable homes in the West Midlands. “Investing in long-term assets helps back the payment of our policyholders’ pensions on a secured basis, while also supporting community-focused organisations like Accord, which provide an important social good.”
