Johnnie Johnson Housing has secured £30million in long-term funding from Warrington Borough Council.The council has been providing loan facilities to housing associations (HAs) to stimulate housing development in Warrington and the surrounding area since 2009.
Johnnie Johnson Housing worked with Savills Financial Consultants to complete the deal, which will enable it to expand its plans for delivering new homes and to take advantage of opportunities to acquire existing properties.
The £30 million loan facility is the first new funding agreed by Johnnie Johnson Housing Trust for a number of years. The Cheshire-based housing association regained its G1/V1 status from the housing regulator, the Homes and Communities Agency, in November 2016.
Yvonne Castle, Chief Executive Officer at Johnnie Johnson Housing, said “We were really pleased that our Board agreed to us going out to the market for £30 million of funding to help build more homes than we had originally planned. This means we can improve on the figure of over 250 to almost 500 within 5 years. This is a significant commitment for us and one which marks a new start in home building for Johnnie Johnson Housing.”
Geoff Clarke, Director of Finance & Corporate Services at Johnnie Johnson Housing, said “This is another significant milestone for Johnnie Johnson Housing. Warrington Borough Council are now a major partner for us and we look forward to working with them to deliver our ambitious target to build new homes.
Ian Thomson, Director of Homes and Services at Johnnie Johnson Housing, added “We look forward to working in partnership with Warrington Council as we embark on our new development programme, to build good quality, affordable homes in Cheshire and the surrounding areas.”
Warrington Borough Council’s executive board member for corporate finance, Cllr Russ Bowden, said: “Our provision of loans to housing association partners is enabling them to build much needed homes and aiding economic regeneration locally. It’s also generating a return on our investment that is reinvested in council services. I’m delighted that we’ve completed this deal with Johnnie Johnson Housing, it’s the latest success story for this innovative scheme.”
Mike Roche, Director at Savills Financial Consultants, said “We are delighted to have supported and assisted Johnnie Johnson Housing throughout the process. The association received a number of extremely competitive proposals, which is testament to the actions of its board, executive and staff and represents a full recovery from the downgrading in 2014”.