devon & cornwall association has borrowed £20m to support building work it hopes to do as one of the Housing Corporation's development partners.
The loan, the association's first from Abbey National, will help it build around 400 homes, including some prefabs, over the course of 18 months.

The RSL plans to join forces with three other local associations to improve its chances of being chosen as a corporation partner: Kerrier, Ocean and North Devon.

"We cannot expect to get selected unless we can demonstrate we have facilities in place," said Devon & Cornwall's finance director Tony McGregor.

Devon & Cornwall already has about £90m in loan facilities with HBOS and Dexia, plus bonds with the Housing Finance Corporation and the Haven funding vehicle run by Royal Bank of Canada.

Under a corporation pilot scheme, associations must get at least £10m in grant to gain development partner status (HT 31 October, page 7).

Ocean, Devon & Cornwall, North Devon and South Somerset have also been working together to find a local off-site manufacturer to step up production to meet their needs. Some of the loan would fund homes built through this initiative (HT 7 November, page 17).

"In our own right we can bid at a level of £10m anyway. What this does is put together a larger partnership that will go well over the Housing Corporation guideline"

Source

Housing Today