What does £2m buy you?
The Housing Finance Corporation (THFC) invests £13m of funds sourced from the European Investment Bank (EIB) into two sites in Hackney being built for Genesis Housing Group and Network Housing Group. Between both schemes, the saving for the duration of the loan compared to bank funding adds up to over £2m. EIB’s AAA credit rating provides the cheapest long dated fixed source of funds available to housing associations. This saving allows grant to be spread further and allowing more developments to take place.
These savings from lower interest costs can also be put to use to build unique features into projects that would otherwise not be viable. For example at Network’s Digby Road site next to Homerton Station in Hackney, Europe’s tallest living wall will be built on the side of this 14 story development. This living wall running from the eighth floor to the top of the building will provide much needed green space in this heavily built up area of North London.
This was my first site visit and I was amazed by the speed at which the developments progress. At Genesis’s Woodberry Down development, within a week of our visit, two show flats would be available for viewings by prospective tenants. At the time of our visit these show flats didn’t have any flooring, working kitchens or bathrooms. At Digby Road the developers have had to cope with a collapsed railway cutting and the Eurostar line running underneath the site into St. Pancras. This is an example of where the cost of EIB funding has allowed a challenging site in a prime location to go ahead.
THFC’s £345m facility has allowed schemes like these to be built all over the United Kingdom. THFC maintains a unique relationship with EIB through which we hope to provide a wide variety of funding opportunities for housing associations in the future.
Photo: by Will Stevenson on flickr.com , with permission.