UK local social housing provider Salix Homes has agreed a £120 mln (€ 140 mln) refinancing deal with NatWest that will enable it to construct more affordable and sustainable homes.
Since 2015, Salix Homes has invested over £210 mln in homes and communities in Salford, Greater Manchester, and built more than 290 new homes, with another 250 currently under construction.
Current new-build developments being delivered include the 96-home Greenhaus eco-apartment block on Chapel Street, being built to Passivhaus standards, which is the gold standard for energy efficient design and construction, also partially financed by the banking partner.
Construction is also underway on the 157-home neighbourhood development in Seedley, comprising social housing, homes for affordable rent and properties for shared ownership and outright sale.
Sue Sutton, CEO at Salix Homes, said: ‘Against a backdrop of national financial uncertainty and the challenges facing the housing sector, we’re delighted that our long-standing funding partner NatWest continues to have confidence in our abilities to deliver a high-quality housing service in Salford we’re all proud to be part of, and we’d like to thank the bank and our advisors for their continued support. We will soon be launching our next Corporate Plan setting out our key priorities for the future, which aims to take us back to our roots and refocus on our core values to provide good quality homes and services to our customers, as well as build 100 new and affordable homes every year. Sustainability is a key focus, and we’re committed to building greener homes and neighbourhoods, while ensuring we continue to be well-governed and financially viable.”
Martin Skinner, director, housing finance at NatWest, added: ‘Like Salix Homes, NatWest is dedicated to supporting our customers and communities and it is fantastic to be able to support the organisation with a new finance package that will help create new homes in Salford.’
Alex Morgan, director at Savills Financial Consultants, commented: ‘We are proud to have supported Salix Homes through this significant transaction that has navigated both market volatility and sector-specific challenges. The outcome materially reduces treasury risk whilst releasing capacity to allow the organisation to expand investment into its communities.’
