Richmond Housing Partnership, RHP, has successfully issued a £100m ‘tap’ extension to its existing bonds to help deliver on their ambition to build hundreds of new affordable homes for local people. The tap issue was designed to increase the size of the existing bond and re-establish RHP’s position as one of the sector leaders in the housing association bond market.

The bond, which was well-oversubscribed with c.£400m of orders, will support RHP’s investment in quality homes and services, as well as innovating to deliver affordable homes for the ‘priced out’ generation of young people in South West London, using modular construction and SMART technology. RHP already have many homes in Hillingdon, Hounslow, Richmond and Kingston.

The published accounts in August which declared a £22.5m surplus (Up £1.5m), 116 new homes delivered and almost £18m spent on maintaining properties. Ahead of the bond, Standard & Poor’s reaffirmed RHP’s strong rating, at A+ stable, maintaining its position as one of the highest-rated Housing Associations in the sector.

RHP aims to be “one of the best service providers in the country and an excellent employer. “ Supporting the vision, their 4 key strategic goals have been the foundation of their focus through recent years. These are to be a leading provider of on-line housing services that deliver exceptional customer experience, provide new homes, ensure they’re an inspiring place to work and maintain their financial strength.

Corinna Bishopp, RHP’s Executive Director of Finance, said: “We are really pleased with this result and the level of investor interest in RHP. This financing will allow us to make considerable progress with our ambitions to support our local community and provide more desperately needed housing.

This is particularly the case where we’re planning to build more homes for people who currently can’t afford to rent on the private market or buy within our operating areas.

This means we’ll be able to help ensure that our local communities aren’t losing their top talent which, of course, includes key workers. It will also mean we can invest more in existing homes through our new home standard and major safety programmes to make sure our homes are good quality, safe and secure.”

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