Wirral housing association Magenta Living secures £40m financing from Santander to support its target of building 1,300 new homes by 2030. Tony McDonough reports
Housing association Magenta Living will push on with its programme of new homes and retrofitting after securing a £40m funding package.
Wirral-based Magenta has secured the debt financing agreement with Santander. After going to the market, Magenta received offers for financing of around £300m, five times more than it was seeking.
Santander’s loan is the first in a wider package of £77m of financing this year which will fund retrofitting, innovative green initiatives, and new builds. Magenta is building 1,300 new homes by 2030, mostly on the Wirral with the rest across Liverpool city region.
Having secured finance it was able to agree terms and pay the deposit on an additional 50 new homes from Northstone at its new Merse development, within 10 days.
Of the 1,300 new homes planned, 70% will be in Wirral. Magenta’s chief finance officer, Paul McGrady, said: “ By raising the finance now, we can move quicker with our building programme and say yes to opportunities. That’s how we were able to sign an agreement for 50 homes from leading housebuilder Northstone.
“We are very pleased with the market’s confidence in our business, and by extension the Wirral more generally. We are still in negotiations with an exciting range of other institutions for this year’s financing round which will total £77m.”
READ MORE: Huge Liverpool site earmarked for new development
READ MORE: Taxpayer to foot entire bill for £60m Pall Mall office scheme
Deena Yadav, relationship director, social housing at Santander Corporate and Commercial Banking, said: “Magenta Living has a clear vision for delivering high-quality, sustainable housing, and we’re proud to support its continued growth and investment in communities across Liverpool city region.
“This transaction demonstrates Santander’s ongoing commitment to supporting the social housing sector and the delivery of much-needed homes.”