Legal & General : invest €54m in Clúid Housing to increase supply of social housing across Ireland

14 Dec 2020

LGIM Real Assets (Legal & General) announces that it has provided €54 million in long-term financing to Clúid Housing, one of Ireland's largest approved housing bodies (AHBs). The funding will enable the delivery of c.200 new social homes across Ireland, and marks the first Irish AHB to secure a financing agreement of this scale with an international institutional asset manager

Aligned with its social purpose, Legal & General has over £1.5 billion invested in affordable housing to date in the UK. This transaction represents Legal & General's first investment in the Irish social housing sector, and brings much needed long-term pension fund capital to the housing sector.

With over 68,000[1] households on the waiting list for social housing in Ireland, the Irish Government has made a commitment to ensure that everyone can access a home, either on their own or with State support. As part of an ambition to increase the provision of social housing in Ireland, facilitating the evolution of established funding structures for social housing projects, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH), and the Housing Agency have adapted their funding requirements to support innovation in the AHB sector.

With a portfolio of over 8,000 homes across all counties in Ireland, Clúid has an ambitious growth strategy to deliver an additional 3,000 new social homes before the end of 2022. Legal & General's investment will enable Clúid to deliver more high quality social homes, and provide a socially useful home for pension fund capital. The first homes financed through the agreement are expected to be delivered in Q1 2021.

Centrus acted as Clúid's advisors and Byrne Wallace, one of Ireland's largest law firms, provided legal advice.

[1]https://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/publications/files/sha_summary_2019_dec_2019_web_1.pdf

Approved Housing Bodies play a vital role in delivering social housing and continue to make progress against our housing delivery targets. Today's announcement demonstrates the innovative ways in which AHBs like Clúid are diversifying their funding models to achieve even greater value for money whilst refusing to compromise on quality. This is an exciting development for the AHB sector and I look forward to seeing the output from this agreement in the coming months.

Darragh O'Brien TD, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage

As we continue to expand the LGIM business in Ireland, we are delighted to have made our first investment in the affordable housing sector.

There is an urgent need to innovate in this sector and provide good quality, stable homes for the many thousands of households on the social housing waiting list in Ireland. Covid has further highlighted the central role of the home in people's lives, demonstrating the need for more good quality, affordable homes. Our investment in Clúid matches our extended liabilities and delivers real economic growth and social value.

Steve Bolton, Head of Corporate Debt, Europe, LGIM Real Assets

Clúid firmly believes that having your own front door, your own place to call home, opens the door to opportunities like seeking out employment, accessing education and other services that enable people to contribute to and enrich communities. We are committed to delivering good quality social housing.

Clúid values all its funding partnerships. It is so important that our funders understand our commitment to delivering social housing and our long-term strategic objectives. LGIM is an ideal partner for Clúid and brings extensive experience having provided financing to affordable housing providers in the UK for many years now. For us, finding a funding partner with a wider social purpose is incredibly important.

Our business plan is built on a solid understanding of our work and includes clear strategic objectives. We not only want to meet the needs of our existing residents but also the needs of our future customers too. This loan establishes a new template for funding social housing in Ireland. We anticipate that this innovative new financing model will encourage the development of future private financing agreements in the AHB sector. Today's announcement is a vote of confidence in Clúid, the Irish social housing sector and the Irish economy.

Fiona Cormican, Clúid's New Business Director