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Wheatley strikes investment deal with major US firm
Scotland’s largest housing association has struck a £100m investment deal with a major US investment firm.
Wheatley Group announced the debt investment deal with BlackRock Real Assets just days after Standard and Poor’s revised the association’s forecast upwards, to “stable” from “negative”.
It is only the second investment BlackRock has made in the social housing sector. In January BlackRock made a £275m deal with Trafford Housing Trust, alongside three other investors.
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Wheatley Group owns or manages 83,000 homes and will use the debt financing to help build around 3,500 new social and mid-market rented homes.
Alastair MacNish, chair of Wheatley Group, said: “This new funding will enable us to press ahead with supplying thousands of new affordable homes and to continue delivering excellent services to the 200,000 people we work for across Scotland.”
Martin Armstrong, chief executive of Wheatley Group, said: “We are continuing to combine the size and scale of the partner organisations within Wheatley to make a major contribution to addressing the shortage of affordable housing in Scotland.”
Jonathan Stevens, head of European infrastructure debt at BlackRock, said: “This transaction is our second investment in the UK social housing sector. The provision of social housing is an essential service, and housing in Scotland and the rest of the UK is in short supply.”
Wheatley Group recently signed off on a joint venture with Glasgow City Council to provide a repairs and maintenance service.
