EIB deal sees affordable homes boost for Scotland

Thousands of affordable homes have been secured for Scotland, through a funding deal with the European Investment Bank.

Wheatley Group has secured some £185M in funding in a landmark deal that will see new homes constructed and the improvement of thousands of existing properties.

The deal was announced at a community event in Glasgow by EIB Vice President Jonathan Taylor with Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP and tenants, staff and apprentices from across Wheatley, along with local politicians and business, community and social housing leaders in attendance. It is the largest loan EIB has made to a Scottish business, and brings the amount of funding raised by Wheatley to £800M over the last four years.

Wheatley is progressing an ambitious building programme, from 2015 through to 2025, which will see some 7,500 affordable new homes constructed from Balloch and Dumbarton through Glasgow, West Lothian and Edinburgh to North Berwick.

Wheatley have also committed to investing £400M over the next three years into affordable housing. This also includes refurbishing existing homes to meet new Scottish and EU energy-efficiency standards, helping tenants cut energy bills, and housing and integrating refugees into Wheatley communities.

Jonathan Taylor, EIB Vice President, said: “New investment in social housing is crucial to increase the number of affordable homes and cut heating bills in existing properties. The European Investment Bank supports social housing investment with leading housing associations across Europe and is pleased to back transformational investment here in Scotland by Wheatley, the largest housing association in Scotland and the largest builder of new social housing in the UK.”

Wheatley has completed almost 1,900 homes over the last three years and is building or planning up to 3,000 more on 60 sites across Scotland. The new £185M EIB loan, along with future investments, will enable Wheatley to maintain a building programme of around 650 homes a year from 2021 to early 2025.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “Ensuring people have access to quality housing is a fundamental part of building a fair and equal society. That is why we have committed to deliver at least 50,000 new affordable homes in the five years to 2021.

“Wheatley Group is vital in helping us achieve that, having delivered almost 1,900 new affordable homes across Scotland over the past three years and the additional funding from the European Investment Bank will help them build on this. It is also another reminder of how Scotland benefits from the EU and its institutions.”

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