Wheatley Group secures £76m funding

Wheatley Group has secured a £76m loan to fund its expansion of its affordable homes portfolio

The Glasgow-based group has borrowed the money in a 25-year deal struck as part of Scottish Widows’ partnership with the Bank of Scotland’s real estate and housing team.

The money will be used by the group’s commercial subsidiary, Lowther Homes, to buy 560 mid-market rent homes currently owned by Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), Cube and Dunedin Canmore. The proceeds will then be used to build 700 new affordable homes.

Alastair MacNish, chair of Wheatley, said: “This is a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to boost the supply of affordable homes across the country in support of the Scottish Government’s More Homes Scotland agenda.

“It is a massive vote of confidence by Scottish Widows and the Bank of Scotland in both Wheatley and the affordable housing sector, and one that will lead to hundreds of new, affordable, high-quality, energy-efficient homes.”

Jason Morris, director of loan investments at Scottish Widows, said: “Structuring this long-term loan provides Wheatley Group with the certainty of fixed-rate funding for the next 25 years.

“We are delighted to support the provision of much-needed affordable homes, building on our previous commitments to the housing sector.”

Alan Brennan, relationship director for real estate and housing at Bank of Scotland, added: “We worked closely with the management teams at Wheatley and Lowther Homes to structure a bespoke deal that provides them with both long-term funding stability and significant capacity to increase their development programmes.”