Housing association Magenta Living will build 1,000 affordable new homes across Liverpool city region and the North West after securing a £137m funding package. Tony McDonough reports
Magenta Living is to build 1,000 affordable new homes and accelerate its transition to becoming a net zero carbon housing provider after securing a £137m funding package.
NatWest is providing the funding for the Wirral-based housing association which currently owns almost 13,000 homes across the Liverpool city region and the North West. It will use the cash to build new homes and retrofit existing ones to slash carbon emissions.
Magenta Living is the largest housing association landlord in Wirral and one of the leading employers in the area with more than 600 employees. It has outlined a 30-year climate change strategy that will see the use of electric vehicles, improving local green spaces, tackling fuel poverty, and improving the energy performance of its housing portfolio.
NatWest has attributed environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals to £75m of its business loan facilities, helping the housing association to work towards the Government’s Zero Carbon Homes target by 2050.
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Ann Monk, executive director of finance at Magenta Living, said: “We aim to enhance local communities and help people access a better quality of life through the provision of improved homes for affordable renting.
“Ultimately, we serve local communities in the North West region by building properties that create genuine social value, and this funding package from NatWest is helping us bring this vision to life.
“The bank’s backing is assisting us as we move towards our target of becoming a carbon zero organisation by 2050 with the creation of truly sustainable properties. This will allow us to continue growing and seizing new opportunities, as well as creating new jobs and encouraging investment into the areas we serve.”
This funding package forms part of NatWest’s commitment to support the housing association sector with £3billion by the end of 2022, to help increase the provision of social housing and enable the improvement of existing properties.
Marcos Navarro, director and sustainability lead for housing finance at the bank, said: “We will continue to support the company as it expands its portfolio and delivers its climate change initiative. It was rewarding to work on a deal that adds such genuine social and environmental value.”