Sector bond aggregator arranges first loan for sub-1,000-home group

Andrew Morton, chief executive of MORhomes, said: “Markets continue to offer opportunities for borrowers who are able to move at pace.”

Jane Harrison, finance director at Soho Housing, said the proceeds will help the landlord acquire new homes in central London and invest in existing stock.

On being the first group with less than 1,000 homes to receive funding through MORhomes, Ms Harrison told Social Housing: “We’re delighted we’ve been able to develop the relationship with MORhomes to demonstrate we’re sufficiently creditworthy and attractive for them to want to lend to us.”

The social bond is under MORhomes’ £5bn Euro Medium-Term Note programme.

The deal means that MORhomes now has 22 borrowers and a total loan book of £526m. The programme’s first issuance was in February 2019.

Last month, S&P Global affirmed its A- credit rating on MORhomes, while keeping its outlook at ‘negative’. 

The agency noted that the aggregator had not provided any new lending in its 2024 financial year, but said demand from housing associations is expected to pick up.

Savills Financial Consultancy advised Soho Housing while Chatham Financial worked as MORhomes’ advisors. The sole bookrunner on this tap issuance was Allia C&C.

Devonshires conducted the legal work on the loan and the bond issue for the aggregator, Addleshaw Goddard worked on the property charging, while Soho Housing used Bevan Brittan.