Welsh landlord secures £95m to refinance debt and ramp up development

News17 May 2024Michael Lloyd

One of Wales’ largest social landlords has secured £95m in funding to refinance existing debt, build more homes and accelerate its decarbonisation plans.

Tai Tarian manages around 9,000 homes across Neath Port Talbot (picture: Alamy)

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One of Wales’ largest social landlords has secured £95m in funding to refinance existing debt, build more homes and accelerate its decarbonisation plans #UKhousing #SocialHousingFinance

Tai Tarian, which manages around 9,000 homes across Neath Port Talbot, secured the borrowing from three funders.

This included a £30m five-year revolving credit facility and a £25m 15-year term loan, which is ESG-linked, from two unnamed bank funders. Interest rates were not disclosed.

In addition, £40m came from a 35-year private placement through a single investor.

Of the £95m funding, £65m was used to refinance existing debt and £30m was new funding.

Nick Tagg, director of finance at Tai Tarian, told Social Housing: “The new funding will be used to increase our development programme of energy-efficient homes by 50 per cent per annum within three years and to accelerate our decarbonisation plans as we work towards achieving carbon neutrality.”

Centrus, which advised Tai Tarian on the deal, said the transaction will enable the housing association to operate with “maximum flexibility, with improved financial covenants and more relaxed controls over decision-making”.

The advisor said that the refinancing has delivered a “very substantial saving on future interest costs, underscoring the efficiency and effectiveness of the funding structure”.

Mr Tagg added: “We are delighted with the outcomes achieved and look forward to working with our new financing partners.”

Devonshires acted as legal advisor and Savills also worked on the deal.

According to its 2022-23 results, Tai Tarian reported a surplus for the year of £2.4m, a slight drop from £2.7m in the previous year, after accounting for net interest charges of £7.5m and a £200,000 loss on the sale of fixed assets.

The landlord was set up in 2011 through a large-scale voluntary transfer from Neath Port Talbot Council.

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