Pacific Link Housing has finished the financial year on a high with an $8.6M cash boost.
The Central Coast’s only locally based Tier 1 Community Housing Provider (CHP), Pacific Link has secured significant funds to support the provision of homes for those people in greatest need in our community.
Pacific Link Housing secured a $7M loan from National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) to support the development of new social and affordable housing across the footprint of the Central Coast and the Hunter Region.
NHFIC finalised $362M of social bonds in June 2021, taking total issuance to about $2B since the organisation was established three years ago.
Pacific Link is one of eight community housing providers to receive a 10-year fixed rate interest only loan following this most recent bond issuance.
NHFIC CEO, Nathan Dal Bon, said the organisation had become an established issuer in the bond market and, in total, the bond was anticipated to save the participating CHPs almost $100M in interest payments over the next 10 years.
“Investors have taken up more than $800M of NHFIC bonds within two weeks, with this strong support seeing institutional and private equity capital flowing into subsidised housing,” Dal Bon said.
Pacific Link Housing Chairman, Wal Edgell, said that the NHFIC loan would enable community housing providers to build more homes and improve the housing experience for lower income households and those in greatest need in our community.
“The strong interest from domestic and international investors, that saw the bond issue being over-subscribed by some 2.5 times, demonstrates the financial market’s appetite for such issuances and the increasing awareness of investors of the solid returns on socially based investments,” Edgell said.
Pacific Link has also recently received a grant of $1.6M under the NSW Government’s Community Housing Innovation Fund (CHIF).
These funds will be used to support a mixed tenancy development in Belmont, Lake Macquarie, which comprises 13 apartments and a small commercial space.
CEO, Ian Lynch, said Pacific Link had an outstanding track record of delivering mixed tenancy developments in collaboration with the NSW State Government which provided accessibility to much needed housing and helped strengthen community cohesion.
“In addition, our self funded tenant capacity building programs provide opportunities for education, employment and social inclusion” he said.
Pacific Link Housing manages more than 1,100 properties across six local government areas, Central Coast, Lake Macquarie, Newcastle, Port Stephens, Maitland and Cessnock.
The company has 190 dwellings across the northern region of the Coast, with the latest development opened in August 2020 at Canton Beach.
There are 476 dwellings in the southern area, taking the total to 666 social housing dwellings available on the Central Coast through Pacific Link.
Source:
Media release, July 14
Pacific Link Housing