Latest issue through the Housing Finance Corporation’s bLEND vehicle 

The Housing Finance Corporation has issued a £260m bond on behalf of Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH and Leeds Federated Housing Association (LFHA).

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The bond aggregator raised the money through its ‘bLEND’ sustainable funding vehicle

It has a seven-year maturity, which THFC said is the shortest achieved for a secured housing association bond of that size. The bond achieved an all in spread of 100 basis points over gilt and a yield of 5.25%.

Ian Johnson, chief financial officer of MTVH, said the £250m for the G15 landlord will back its development strategy and work to improve its homes.

MTVH re-iterated in a trading update yesterday its ambition to increase its development to 1,000 homes a year. Its compeltions however fell 40% in 2024/25 year-on-year, from 892 to 544. However, MTVH increased its development spend on new projects from £280m to £442m.

>>See also: Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing returns to surplus as completions drop 40%

Jason Ridley, director of finance and IT at 5,000-home Leeds Federated Housing Association said: “This funding enables us to invest in building new homes and supports our programme of improvements to existing homes – this contributes to our overall purpose of helping people make a home.”

bLEND offers more flexible funding than private placements and allows for deferred drawdowns, it is managed under a sustainability framework which aligns with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards. More than £1.7bn has been issued through the vehicle to date.