More than 250 social rent homes have been completed as a result of grant donations created by the government's charitable bonds programme.

The £40 million additional investment in charitable bonds for 2019/20 is expected to generate £10 million of donations, Housing Minister Kevin Stewart announced.

He said: "The government's innovative use of charitable bonds is making a real contribution to the delivery of our target to deliver 50,000 affordable homes by March 2021. The interest on these loans enables us to create a grant fund to support the development of social rented homes in communities across Scotland.


"To date, the government has invested £115 million in the charitable bonds programme which will provide development finance for over 1,000 affordable homes."

Wheatley Group Chief Executive Martin Armstrong added: "We are delighted to have received £16 million of investment through the Allia charitable bond scheme. This helps us progress our plans for hundreds of new affordable homes in and around Edinburgh as part of our wider new-build programme in support of the Scottish Government's More Homes Scotland agenda."

Daniel Carrico, Head of Origination at Allia Impact Finance also said: "We're delighted to secure another £40 million into our charitable bond programme, building on the success since it started over four years ago. We look forward to working with more housing associations and supporting them with this unique source of unsecured finance."

(MH)