Wheatley Group

Scottish housing group secures £185m funding



Wheatley Group has secured £185m of new funding from the European Investment Bank (EIB).


The Scottish housing group will use the finance to help build and improve thousands of affordable homes across Scotland.

The news was announced in Glasgow by Jonathan Taylor, vice-president at EIB, at a community event attended by Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon and tenants, along with staff and apprentices from across Wheatley.

The £185m loan – along with future investments – will enable Wheatley to maintain a building programme of around 650 homes a year from 2021 to 2025.

This latest deal takes the total amount raised by Wheatley in the past four years to £800m.

The housing group is progressing a building programme – from 2015 through to 2025 – of 7,500 affordable homes from Balloch and Dumbarton through Glasgow, West Lothian and Edinburgh to north Berwick.

The new funding from EIB is linked to a commitment by Wheatley to invest £400m into affordable housing over the next three years.

Alastair MacNish, chair at Wheatley Group, said that the loan was fantastic news for people and families across Scotland and was a huge vote of confidence in Wheatley and its unyielding commitment to affordable housing.

“It will help us to consolidate our position as the UK’s largest builder of social-rented homes, which we hold close as a badge of honour at a time when the availability and supply of affordable housing is such an acute priority.”

Speaking at the funding announcement at the Reidvale Neighbourhood Centre in Gallowgate, Glasgow, where GHA – part of Wheatley Group – is building 143 homes, Jonathan added: “New investment in social housing is crucial to increase the number of affordable homes and cut heating bills in existing properties.

“The European Investment Bank supports social housing investment with leading housing associations across Europe and is pleased to back transformational investment here in Scotland by Wheatley, the largest housing association in Scotland and the largest builder of new social housing in the UK.

“This week’s visit to Glasgow provides a valuable opportunity to see how upgrading existing properties and construction of new social housing will improve lives, create skilled jobs, benefit local suppliers and cut heating bills in homes for hundreds of families.”

Wheatley has constructed almost 1,900 homes over the last three years and is building or planning up to 3,000 more on 60 sites across Scotland.



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