Housing association Beacon Cymru Group is committed to deliver 500 new homes following a £115m loan facility with NatWest.
Formed through the merger of Coastal Housing Group and RHA Wales in January Beacon Cymru manages 9,000 homes across south Wales and employs nearly 400 people. It contributes an estimated £75m to the Welsh economy annually.
As a part of NatWest’s £5bn lending initiative to enhance the Ƶ’s social housing sector, the funding will also be deployed to increase the energy efficiency of existing homes to lower household bills for residents.
Beacon is looking to combines new homes for rent with commercial spaces to bring people and businesses back into town and city centres. It has mixed use projects at different stages of development in Tonypandy, Porthcawl and Swansea where former commercial premises are being transformed into new homes.
Its Swansea project will see the restoration and conversion of the former Castle Cinema in the city centre to provide 30 affordable homes and new commercial units.
Chief executive of Beacon Cymru Group, Debbie Green, said: “We are very pleased to have secured this funding from NatWest. As a newly-merged organisation, this money will enable us to deliver on our merger promises, both to invest in existing homes and to fund our ambitious development programme stretching from Rhondda to Carmarthenshire.”
Dharmesh Patel, associate director at NatWest commercial mid market,said: “NatWest is committed to supporting the Ƶ’s social housing sector and Beacon Cymru is a great example of a pioneering not-for-profit organisation that is directly helping the people in the communities it serves.
“Beacon have ambitious plans to make a real positive difference for individuals, families and communities in Wales, and we’re delighted to support them as they continue working towards their goals while improving housing standards throughout Wales.”
