STOP PRESS
Great Places is delighted to announce that, despite its UK downgrade, Fitch have reaffirmed the Group’s AA- rating
Great Places is a solid business, growing steadily. We’re branching out, breaking new ground and trying new ways of doing things. The core of our business is strong. Our homes are good quality, repairs and maintenance services are efficient, and neighbourhood management is robust. We’ve also developed an in-house repairs service covering all our homes in the north west, and from April 2013, South Yorkshire.
We were also the first exclusively northern-based housing association to issue a bond. The bond raised £200m of which £150m is drawn down immediately and the remaining £50m within the next two years. The hugely successful issue will pay investors a return of 4.81% which is the third most competitive arrangement for a housing association out of around 20 bonds issued recently.
On the development front, Great Places continues to build more new homes in the north west than any other housing association. The Bloc partnership we lead secured £40m from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to build 1,751 new homes over the next four years, one of the largest allocations nationally. This is testament to our good relationship with the HCA and their trust in us to deliver.