Macquarie Infrastructure Debt Investment Solutions has arranged and financed long-term debt facilities totaling £150 million ($193 million), including a private placement of £90 million ($116 million), for charitable registered housing provider Alliance Homes Group.
Alliance Homes currently owns and manages around 6,500 homes that are largely social and affordable properties in the Southwest of England, located across North Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire.
The funding will support Alliance Homes by refinancing existing bank debt and also enable its plan to grow the provision of much needed housing in an area that continues to suffer from a housing shortage and increasing rents.
All of the committed funding has been drawn, comprising a £70 million ($90 million) fixed-rate tranche, amortizing more than 35 years, and a £20 million ($26 million) floating-rate 20-year bullet tranche. The MIDIS facilities also enable them to request an additional £60 million ($77 million) under similar terms to support further growth. Alliance Homes has an ambition to develop 1,000 homes predominantly in North Somerset.
Alongside this funding, increasing government grants to the sector will also support the deliverability of new housing, something that MIDIS sees as a positive outcome for all stakeholders.
Gareth Edwards, an associate director in MIDIS, explains, “There is a clear government directive in delivering more affordable homes at this time, and we are very pleased to have provided funding to Alliance Homes at this juncture in their evolution. We continue to see strong demand from investors seeking to support the U.K.’s social infrastructure needs.”
This is MIDIS’ fourth financing in the U.K. social housing sector, taking total commitments to nearly £300 million ($344 million), and total facilities to more than £550 million ($631 million). These investments have been made on behalf of MIDIS’ institutional clients, who are increasingly focused on maximizing the social and environmental impact of their investments.
Since 2012, MIDIS has been awarded mandates of £6 billion ($6.8 billion) and deployed over £4.7 billion ($5.4 billion) in investments — including fixed-rate, floating-rate and inflation-linked debt — across transport, regulated utilities, renewables and social infrastructure.