East Northamptonshire to spend £81m loan on building outside its borders

The transfer landlord will use the money to build homes beyond east Northamptonshire’s boundaries, in Wellingborough, Rutland and Milton Keynes.

It will fund construction of 500 homes, on top of the landlord’s current target of building 750 homes in the next five years.

The 30-year facility includes £21m of new money as well as an existing facility of £60m.

To reflect its expansion and ensure its name can be more easily distinguished from that of the council, East Northamptonshire will unveil a new name in January 2005.

A spokeswoman declined to reveal the new name, but sources close to the landlord said it would be Spire Homes.

Julie Doyle, managing director of East Northamptonshire, said: “It’s a really exciting time for us. Our development programme is going from strength to strength.”

This is a really exciting time for us. Our development programme is going from strength to strength

Julie Doyle, East Northamptonshire Housing

A Bank of Scotland spokesman added: “This is a major increase in East Northamptonshire’s facility, based on an assessment of its asset value and potential for growth.”

East Northamptonshire manages about 3400 homes. It was formed as a result of the transfer of housing stock from East Northamptonshire council in February 2001. The transfer received one of the highest “yes” votes: 92.2% of tenants voted in favour of the move in 2000. Of the 4178 tenants, 3119 took part in the ballot.

By the end of 2006, East Northamptonshire will have spent about £33m improving its stock since the transfer was completed. To date, the association has built about 100 affordable homes.

East Northamptonshire is a member of Longhurst Group, which manages more than 10,000 homes across the country.