BlackRock Real Assets has provided £100m (€114m) of debt financing for a UK social housing provider.

The investment manager said it raised institutional capital to provide long-term finance debt raise for Wheatley Housing Group, Scotland’s biggest housing, care and property management company.

The group, which owns or manages 83,000 homes, will use the finance to develop around 3,500 new social and mid-market rented homes in Scotland. 

Jonathan Stevens, head of European infrastructure debt at BlackRock, said: “The provision of social housing is an essential service, and housing in Scotland and the rest of the UK is in short supply.

“We hope our investment makes a genuine contribution towards addressing this issue, while also providing our clients with an inherently stable, long-term cash-generating asset.”

The transaction is BlackRock’s second investment in the UK social housing sector and 48th for its $6.2bn global infrastructure debt platform.

In January, BlackRock closed a debt investment providing long-term financing to UK housing association Trafford Housing Trust in Manchester.