Clúid Housing has announced a deal to buy a 40-unit apartment development - Blackbanks View in Raheny in Dublin - for €18.8m.
The new scheme is being delivered in partnership with LGIM Real Assets (Legal & General) and forms part of a larger €54m long-term financing agreement.
Clúid is one of the largest approved housing bodies (AHBs) in Ireland and the first Irish AHB to secure a financing agreement of this scale with an international institutional asset manager.
With a portfolio of over 8,300 homes across Ireland already, Clúid has a growth strategy to deliver 3,000 new social homes before the end of 2022.
Blackbanks View, developed by Dublin Loft Company (DLC), includes 11 one-bedroom, 24 two-bedroom and five three-bedroom apartments.
The new homes have been allocated to people on Dublin City Council's housing list and are located close to social, educational, commercial, transport and recreational amenities including St Anne's Park and Bull Island.
LGIM Real Assets (Legal & General) last December said it had provided €54m in long-term financing to Clúid Housing, enabling it to deliver more high-quality social homes, and provide a socially useful home for pension fund capital.
Today's announcement sees the first of about 200 new social homes delivered as part of the financing agreement and is Legal & General's first investment in the Irish social housing sector.
"Clúid Housing is committed to delivering good quality social housing and we are delighted to partner with Legal & General to deliver Blackbanks View here in Dublin. This new financing agreement provides a means for Clúid to scale up our ambitious targets and deliver homes for the most vulnerable in our society," commented Fiona Cormican, Clúid's New Business Director.
Steve Bolton, Head of Corporate Debt Europe, LGIM Real Assets, said it is very rewarding to see the tangible impacts that this kind of investment has and its investment with Clúid is testament to this – it matches its extended liabilities and delivers real economic growth and social value.
