BoS provides £7.5m to support Aberdeenshire development plan

The new revolving credit facility has been agreed with Bank of Scotland and complements an existing £24m package already in place.

The funding will support AHP in its plans to increase social and affordable housing provision in Aberdeen, Moray and Aberdeenshire.

AHP was established in 1999 following the transfer of social housing from Aberdeenshire Council and the immediate development of nearly 200 new affordable homes. The group now includes Moray Housing Partnership and owns or manages 1,500 properties across North East Scotland. Its stock provides general needs housing, supported accommodation and mid-market rented housing.

As part of its development programme, AHP plans to build 350 new homes by 2021, something which will be supported by the new Bank of Scotland facility. The organisation is also working with local and national landlords to provide and manage at least a further 200 homes.

Colin Hawkins, chief executive of AHP, said: “Bank of Scotland has been a supportive partner to us for over a decade. The bank recognises the contribution we make to our community and how we are planning to enhance this in the coming years.

“The new facility, alongside our existing funding from the bank, will support our development plans over the next five years.”

He added: “We have developed our future business plan with the meaningful involvement of our Tenants Association who strongly support our aims to help increase the provision of high-quality, affordable housing in North East Scotland, benefiting the lives of our current and future tenants.”

Jo-Ann Pepperell, relationship director from Bank of Scotland’s social housing team, added: “AHP is a model example of a modern social housing provider. The management team has worked astutely over a number of years to increase housing provision in Aberdeenshire and the north east of Scotland.

“Our ongoing support and this new facility signals our confidence in the team and our willingness to provide the finance to help further boost the number of high-quality, affordable homes in this part of Scotland.”

Earlier this year, Bank of Scotland provided a new £15m revolving credit facility to Clyde Valley Housing Association, which covers parts of Lanarkshire and Dunbartonshire.