Macquarie supports UK social housing association with £92.5 million debt facilities

Macquarie Infrastructure Debt Investment Solutions (“MIDIS”) has today announced an agreement to provide long-term debt facilities totalling £92.5 million to UK charitable registered housing provider Tuntum Housing Association (“Tuntum”).

Tuntum owns and manages approximately 1,500 social and affordable homes across the East Midlands, providing affordable housing for over 3,000 people. Tuntum also delivers essential support services to vulnerable groups in the community including the elderly, homeless young people, young mothers, domestic violence victims, and refugees.

The bespoke debt facilities provided by MIDIS will support Tuntum in its ambition to deliver approximately 280 new affordable and shared ownership homes over the next five years. The facilities include a £42.5 million committed facility and a £50 million shelf facility that will provide Tuntum with the financial and operational flexibility that it needs to grow. The £42.5 million fixed-rate facility will be drawn in three tranches over a year to refinance Tuntum’s legacy debt and fund new developments over a 33-year tenor.

Gareth Edwards, Associate Director at MIDIS, said: “Tuntum has a strong and experienced Board and management team, with their tenants and the community truly at the heart of what they do. We have been impressed with Tuntum’s commitment to support services, the great care given to the quality of its housing stock, and its approach to targeting new developments where they are needed most. In otherwise uncertain market conditions, our financing will support Tuntum to deliver its high-quality services whilst providing the certainty it needs to grow and support more vulnerable people living in the East Midlands.”

Richard Renwick, Chief Executive at Tuntum, said: “This flexible financing package agreed between Macquarie and our Director of Resources, Rafik Ghumra, has been tailored to our operational requirements and funding needs, enabling us to complete the transactions we had planned in the short term, deliver our pipeline of development projects and continue to make an impact on people’s lives.”

MIDIS continues to see strong demand from investors seeking to support the UK’s social infrastructure needs, including for small and medium sized providers which historically have had less access to capital markets.

This investment represents MIDIS’ fifth financing in the UK’s social housing sector, taking total facilities provided to approximately £650 million. These investments have been made on behalf of MIDIS’ institutional clients, who are deeply focused on maximising the social impact of their investments.

Since 2012, MIDIS has been awarded investor commitments in excess of £8 billion and deployed over £6 billion in investments, including fixed, floating and inflation linked debt – across transport, regulated utilities, power, renewables, telecommunications and social infrastructure.