Allia is working with the Scottish Government to fund the development of affordable housing across Scotland. The bonds provide a new source of finance for housing associations, and are ethical financial products – no profit is taken by Allia, who issue the bonds on the Scottish Government’s behalf.
Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership have been issued a loan of £5 million, and the interest of around £1.8 million will be converted into a charitable donation, which the Scottish Government will give to housing associations for the construction of new social housing.
This loan brings the Scottish Government’s total charitable bond investments to over £47 million, which is supporting the development of 661 affordable homes across Scotland, from Orkney to the Borders. As a result of this investment the total amount of charitable donations generated for the construction of new social housing is now an additional £11 million.
Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: "Providing good quality, affordable housing is a key priority for the Scottish Government. By investing in housing across the country through we are also helping to attract and retain people in our rural communities. We have committed to deliver 50,000 more affordable homes over the next five years, backed up with investment of more than £3 billion. Today’s announcement marks another step on road to delivering that pledge.
“Innovative financing schemes such as charitable bonds play a major role in helping us deliver this major expansion in housing supply. We invested £26.5 million last year and have committed to invest the same again this year and we remain the only Government in the UK to do so. Through these bonds we are also maintaining Scotland’s leadership in financial innovation, working with partners to deliver more for less public investment.”
Zoe Forster, Chief Executive, Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership: “DGHP is delighted to be able to take part in the Scottish Government funded Allia bond programme. The loan we have just concluded will be invested in new build housing in Dumfries and Galloway, and will allow us to move forward faster than we had expected to meet the housing needs of our communities.”
Phil Caroe, Director, Allia Impact Finance: "The Scottish Government's partnership with Allia is helping to accelerate the development of affordable housing across Scotland. This is now the sixth loan made under the current charitable bond programme, and with another round of loans lined up, we expect to deliver more than £50m of investment into new affordable homes by the end of the financial year."
About Allia Impact Finance
Allia Impact Finance is a pioneer in creating finance funding mechanisms to help finance the growth of social ventures that aim to make a positive social or environmental impact. Our firsts include Retail Charity Bonds for larger charities and Charitable Bonds to raise grant funding for charitable projects. Since 1999 and to this day we encourage a wide range of individuals, corporates, voluntary and public sector organisations to use their investment money for social good.
Allia Ltd also provides workspace and business support to social and environmental enterprises through its Future Business Centres. Offering a mix of affordable, high quality open plan workspace, workshops and office accommodation on flexible terms, Allia works with entrepreneurs and growing businesses, providing advice, events and networks to help them succeed and create positive impact on people, planet and place.
For more information go to impactfinance.allia.org.uk
@AlliaIF
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Press enquiries to:
Claire Thwaites, Head of Marketing Communications, Allia Ltd
claire.thwaites@allia.org.uk
01223 781305
Laura Nicholls, Marketing Campaigns Manager, Allia Impact Finance
laura.nicholls@allia.org.uk
01223 781316
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