Finances
Housing groups borrow money to pay for new homes and improvements. Like some other large groups, Places for People raises money from investors by issuing corporate bonds in its own name.
As the late-2000s financial crisis progressed, first-time buyers had difficulty in obtaining bank mortgages. Places for People was the first housing group to respond by providing mortgages for shared ownership or 100% buyers on its own developments.
In April 2008 Places For People launched the Ownhome equity loan scheme in partnership with the Co-operative Bank. This was aimed at enabling first time buyers, key workers and occupants of social housing to purchase homes on the open market through a combination of a standard co-operative bank mortgage for between 60-80% of value with the balance funded via an equity loan from Places for People. The scheme ended in April 2010 when funding support for the equity loan was withdrawn by the government.
In 2010 the group recorded a £25 million impairment in the value of its assets, the largest write-down by a UK housing association up to that date.
Places for People raised the social housing sector's first unsecured UK bond in May 2011.
Read more about this topic: Places For People