Allia C&C has issued a loan of £13 million to support Partick Housing Association’s plans to build over 140 new homes in the West End of Glasgow over the next five years.

Partick Housing Association owns over 1,700 properties and is a respected and active provider of social housing and affordable homes, with a clear commitment to delivering a rolling programme of more new homes to meet a real shortage of good quality, affordable housing in the area.

The social landlord has already earmarked a number of development locations, including the gap site at Laurel Street in Partick.  This £4.3 million development will consist of 24 new flats for social rent and will be completed in autumn 2020.

Stewart MacKenzie, Chief Executive of Partick Housing Association, said: “We’re thrilled to have secured support from Allia C&C.  The funding package that we’ve put in place with Allia C&C is a real boost for our commitment to meeting local housing needs and delivering significant benefits to the area.  With Allia C&C’s support, and working with Glasgow City Council, the community and other partners, we are playing our part in delivering much-needed new affordable homes within the pressured West End housing market.”

Allia C&C has been supporting the vital development of affordable homes across Scotland for the last four years with its Scottish Charitable Bond programme.  The bonds provide simple, affordable loans to housing associations solely for building affordable housing, using Scottish Government investment. The interest on the loans enables the Scottish Government to also provide grants for further social housing benefit.  The loans are available for 5 to 15 years on an unsecured basis with light covenants in place, and no loan or interest repayments are made until the end of the term.

Daniel Carrico, Head of Origination at Allia C&C, said “We’re delighted to support Partick Housing Association with their affordable housing development plans.  The £13 million bond is the second largest issued under the Scottish charitable bond programme and is also the first allocation from the 2019/20 investment pot made available from the Scottish Government. We’re already talking to a number of other housing associations about how this unique source of unsecured finance could benefit them and look forward to helping more affordable homes be delivered across Scotland.”

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “We believe everyone should have a safe warm, place to live. This new development will provide quality, affordable homes for people in Partick, and contribute to the vibrant and flourishing community here. The work of Partick Housing Association and partners shows how our innovative use of charitable bonds is helping us meet our target to deliver 50,000 affordable homes by March 2021.”

In February this year, the Scottish Government announced it was investing £40 million into Allia’s Scottish Charitable Bonds for the current 2019/20 programme, which is expected to generate £10 million of charitable donations.