Press Release

Macquarie arranges £75 million of long dated debt for Havebury Housing Partnership

London, 28 November 2017

  • Regulated social housing development and refinancing facility
  • £75 million long-dated institutional debt tranche 
  • 35 year debt maturity with deferred funding element

Macquarie Infrastructure Debt Investment Solutions (MIDIS) has funded, 100 per cent of a new long-term debt facility on behalf of six of its investors for Havebury Housing Partnership (Havebury), to refinance existing facilities and also support the development of over 1,200 new social and affordable houses in England over the next seven years.

The allocation is part of a wider debt refinancing package for Havebury, with MIDIS providing £75 million in long-dated institutional debt with 35 year maturity, amortising from year 20. In addition, MIDIS and Havebury have signed a shelf facility whereby Havebury can request to borrow an additional £50 million under similar terms.

This investment follows MIDIS’ previous £80 million private placement and £50 million shelf facility with Cottsway Housing Association in 2015. Since then, the infrastructure debt specialist says local housing associations across the UK are increasingly looking to institutional investors to help meet longer-term funding requirements.

Gareth Edwards, an Associate Director in MIDIS said: "There’s been a noticeable increase in the number of private placements by housing associations in recent months as confidence returns to the sector, supported by the UK Government’s recent announcement to reintroduce the inflation linked rent regime in 2020.

Sector wide, we expect an increase in borrowing to support meeting the Government’s targets to build more social and affordable homes. As a result, we see potential for institutional investors to increase their exposure to this sector, which not only offers them high quality long-term investment opportunities in a regulated not-for-profit sector but also benefits society."

Marie McCleary, Director of Resources at Havebury Housing Partnership adds: "MIDIS clearly understood our business needs, took a pragmatic approach to structuring the debt facility and executed the transaction quickly with our objectives in mind. We are now well-positioned to achieve our strategic goals of developing much needed affordable and social housing in the East of England – with access to additional financing in future if required through the shelf facility."

Havebury owns and manages more than 6,400 properties and since 2002 has built over 1,000 new homes, now operating across ten local authorities in the East of England. The Suffolk and Cambridgeshire area has a high average house price relative to the rest of the UK meaning social and affordable housing is a critical provision in the area.

Since 2012, MIDIS has been awarded mandates in excess of £4.8 billion and deployed over £3.4 billion in investments, including fixed, floating and inflation linked debt - across transport, regulated utilities, renewables and social infrastructure.

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