Archives: Credential

Transaction overview

Centrus arranged £125m of new committed facilities for Fairhive, running a whole-of-market competitive process with eleven lenders engaged at a point of strong sector appetite. The process introduced a new funder, sharpening competition on both lending and future hedging while protecting the embedded value and covenants in Fairhive’s legacy portfolio. The result funds Fairhive’s development and growth objectives through 2029, with long-dated RCF capacity and embedded hedging giving flexibility to stage drawdowns, manage interest rate risk and term out over time.

What value did Centrus add?

• Ran a whole-of-market competitive process with eleven lenders engaged, at a point of strong sector appetite.
• Introduced a new funder with a complementary vision and a strong focus on social impact, adding competition on both lending and future hedging.
• Protected significant embedded value in the legacy portfolio, with covenants and controls unchanged.
• Prioritised embedded hedging, giving simple routes to manage interest rate risk without a need for separate ISDA arrangements.
• Secured long availability windows, letting Fairhive stage drawdowns and recycle liquidity efficiently.

How did this transaction benefit Fairhive?

• Funded capacity to deliver the development and growth objectives through 2029, with £125m of new committed facilities from The Co-operative Bank and Nationwide.
• Strong competition delivered pricing inside business plan assumptions.
• Long-dated RCF capacity protected, a key differentiator for Fairhive, giving flexibility around capital commitments and room to term out over time.
• ISDA complexity avoided, with both counterparties able to provide options on future fixed rates.
• Corporate controls and covenants unchanged, preserving flexibility as Fairhive delivers on its medium-term ambitions.

“Centrus delivered best-in-class market access, engaging with a wide field of funders and introducing a new counterparty that sits well alongside our existing treasury portfolio. Every pound saved on the cost of debt is a pound we can stretch further into new homes, and the funding secured supports the ambitions set out in our Corporate Strategy. Their understanding of our business and our objectives gave the Board real confidence in the decision making.“

Izabela Falinska, Executive Director Finance and Resources – Fairhive

“Very happy to have supported Fairhive on this transaction. They have a clear vision and have delivered on their promises, beating targets on reinvestment and new homes last year. This process helped deepen their existing bank relationships and brought in a complementary new funder, giving Fairhive capacity to grow well beyond the current plan period. The final structure was simple and well-priced, with straightforward hedging and the scale to support their growth across Buckinghamshire and the surrounding counties.”

Richard Conway, Director – Centrus

For more information, please get in touch with Richard Conway, Director for Housing, Education & Care.

Transaction overview

Centrus is delighted to have advised Notting Hill Genesis on the delivery of their annual stress testing exercise; this is the second consecutive year Centrus has supported the Group on this engagement.  

As one of the largest G15 housing associations, NHG operates across a multi-entity structure with an active sales programme.

Centrus delivered a stress testing framework tailored to NHG’s business plan and risk profile, balancing the complexity of the organisation with a disciplined and targeted approach to scenario design. The exercise focused on the risks most relevant to NHG and the wider housing sector, providing a robust assessment of resilience while ensuring reporting remained clear, accessible and decision focused.

What value did Centrus add?

The exercise required scenarios, metrics and reporting to be calibrated to NHG’s specific business plan whilst remaining anchored in the wider sector context. Working alongside the NHG team, Centrus led the engagement end-to-end, including:

• Refining the suite of stress scenarios from last year’s engagement, applying our expertise to reflect the latest organisation-specific risks and sector-wide pressures through a more targeted, efficient process
• Applying a methodical approach to selecting the financial metrics tested – including gearing, ICR and rating-agency metrics – to avoid overlapping between measures and cover distinct aspects of performance, from covenant compliance to long-term sustainability and core housing performance, refining the metric set again this year to sharpen that coverage
• Running the testing throughout, ensuring outputs were robust, internally consistent and decision-ready
• Producing reporting tailored to the needs of different stakeholder groups, from Board through to Executive and operational management

How did this transaction benefit NHG?

NHG’s corporate plan sets out an ambitious vision: continuing to invest in existing homes, delivering new affordable housing across London, and actively managing its stock portfolio through the disposal of non-core assets, whilst maintaining the financial strength required to support residents over the long term – all against a challenging operating backdrop for the sector. Delivering that requires confidence that the plan can withstand stress. This engagement gave NHG exactly that – a clear, evidenced view of resilience under a comprehensive range of scenarios, with reporting structured to meet the needs of each audience across the organisation, from Board oversight through to Executive and management-level decision-making.

“Stress testing across an organisation of our scale and complexity is a significant undertaking, and Centrus made the process as smooth and efficient as possible. Their expertise in refining the scenario suite and metrics gave us confidence that the results were both robust and clearly presented. Having worked with Centrus on this exercise for a second year, it’s a relationship we continue to value.”

Aaron Keyte, Finance Director: FP&A and Business Partner – NHG

“It was a pleasure to work alongside the NHG team for a second year on this exercise. In a fast-evolving operating environment, the challenge is ensuring the scenarios and test levels remain relevant year-on-year – and giving the Board and Executive a view of resilience under a range of scenarios, with reporting structured to meet the needs of each stakeholder group.“

Lorenzo Bono, Senior Associate – Centrus

For more information, please get in touch with Lorenzo Bono, Senior Associate for Housing, Education & Care.

Transaction overview

Centrus was delighted to have advised Gentoo on the completion of a substantial debt package totaling £310m, bringing together new money, loan extensions and interest rate hedging across four lenders.

Gentoo secured £60m of new 10-year term debt from HSBC and Barclays, with Barclays joining Gentoo’s banking group for the first time. NatWest extended £200m of existing term debt facilities, adding longevity to a significant portion of the balance sheet. HSBC also extended a further £50m revolving credit facility, strengthening Gentoo’s liquidity position. Alongside the debt, Centrus structured a suite of loan-linked and unsecured ISDAs with ABN AMRO, NatWest and HSBC to manage interest rate risk across the portfolio.

What value did Centrus add?

The breadth of this transaction – spanning new term debt, loan extensions and hedging across four lenders simultaneously – required careful coordination and execution. Centrus managed the full process, including:

• Introducing Barclays as a new lender, broadening Gentoo’s banking group, and securing highly competitive margins on new term loans
• Negotiating the extension of NatWest’s £200m facilities and HSBC’s £50m RCF
• Securing improved terms on existing facilities including reduced margins and improved covenant levels, reducing cost of debt and providing greater headroom across the portfolio
• Structuring and executing a suite of loan-linked and unsecured ISDAs with three counterparties, and novating existing hedging with no additional fees

How did this transaction benefit Gentoo?

Gentoo’s ten-year corporate strategy set out an ambitious vision: to become the best provider of social homes in the country, investing £600m in existing homes, building more new social homes across Sunderland and the North-East than ever before, and helping communities to thrive.

Delivering that required a strong, diversified funding base. This transaction gave Gentoo exactly that – competitive new facilities from a broad group of lenders, improved covenant terms, and an interest rate hedging framework that could be used to protect the business as it executed its strategy.

“This was a significant re-financing project for us, bringing together new opportunities, facility extensions and introducing a comprehensive approach to interest rate risk management. Working in close partnership with Centrus made a real difference in delivering such a strong outcome. This project supports the next phase of our corporate strategy to provide the best possible service for our customers to help us toward our vision to become the best social housing provider in the country.”

Paul Wright, Executive Director of Finance – Gentoo

“This was an enjoyable transaction covering a lot of ground – new money, loan extensions, improved terms and getting the right hedging products to manage risk in a volatile rates environment. Gentoo approached it with real clarity on what they wanted to achieve, which made for a great outcome across the board.”

Tom Archer, Director – Centrus

We were delighted to have worked in partnership with Gentoo and Centrus to provide legal advice on all facets of the transaction. We deployed the substantial resources available to us, across multiple practice areas, to ensure we could meet the tight timelines imposed to optimise market conditions for Gentoo.

Gary Grigor, Partner – Devonshires

For more information, please get in touch with Tom Archer, Director of Housing, Education & Care.

Transaction overview

Centrus was delighted to have advised Bernicia on the successful completion of a £100m loan provided by Barclays. The facility was structured across two tranches, a 7-year and a 10-year, delivering highly competitive pricing for both tenors, among the best rates Centrus had seen for these tenors.

Centrus ran a comprehensive competitive process, attracting a strong appetite from multiple banks. Barclays emerged as the strongest option, offering the most compelling overall package for Bernicia.

What value did Centrus add?

Centrus managed the funding process from initial engagement through to completion. Key elements included:

• Supporting Bernicia’s board and finance team throughout, ensuring robust governance and clear communication at every stage
• Running a competitive market process that tested appetite across multiple lenders, ensuring Bernicia secured optimal pricing and terms
• Advising on loan structure to balance cost, flexibility and duration in line with Bernicia’s treasury strategy
• Working closely with Barclays to originate and execute an LL-ISDA

How did this transaction benefit Bernicia?

This funding supported the delivery of Bernicia’s newly launched five-year corporate strategy, ‘The Bernicia Effect, Supporting Opportunity (2026–2031)’. In this strategy, Bernicia – who owned and managed over 14,000 homes across the North East – had set out plans to invest £400m in homes, services and communities over the next five years.

The £100m Barclays facility helped fund that programme, which included £150m to build 1,000 new homes, £121m to improve existing homes (including a focus on energy efficiency) and £115m for day-to-day maintenance.

 “Well-structured, competitively priced debt is central to realising our corporate ambitions, and Centrus delivered exactly that – running an excellent process that secured us highly competitive terms from a strong field of lenders. Barclays offered the best overall package and we’re delighted to be extending our relationship with them.”

Janette Longstaff, Executive Director of Finance – Bernicia

“Bernicia is a fantastic organisation to work with and this is a great outcome: well-structured loan and hedging facilities, at highly competitive pricing. We’re delighted to be supporting Bernicia as they look to deliver on an ambitious and important strategy for the North-East.”

Tom Archer, Director – Centrus

For more information, please contact Tom Archer, Director of Housing, Education & Care.

Transaction overview

Centrus Advisors, acting as treasury advisors, Anthony Collins Solicitors, as legal counsel, together with lending partners NatWest and Nationwide Building Society, are pleased to announce the successful completion of a comprehensive restructure of Calico Homes’ £149.5m bank debt portfolio.

The transaction involved the renegotiation and restatement of Calico’s existing facilities with both NatWest and Nationwide, delivering material improvements in pricing, covenant terms, and portfolio longevity, providing the organisation with significant additional capacity to invest in homes and services for its residents across Burnley and the surrounding areas.

How did this transaction benefit Calico Homes?

Significant Interest Savings: The restructure delivers annual interest savings of up to £564k, meaningfully reducing Calico’s cost of debt and freeing resources for reinvestment in its core social purpose.

Extended Portfolio Longevity: The weighted average life of the bank portfolio has been extended from 7 to 11 years, providing Calico with a longer-dated, more resilient funding platform and reducing near-term refinancing risk.

Covenant Reform and Enhanced Debt Capacity: Alignment of Calico’s gearing covenants has increased Calico’s available debt capacity by approximately 70%  — providing materially greater financial headroom to support the delivery of new and improved homes.

Hedging Restructure: The transaction also saw the implementation of Calico’s first loan linked ISDA put in place with NatWest. A loan-linked ISDA structure was adopted to maximise flexibility and to enable the reinvestment of restructure break gains to minimise the impact of Calico fixed rates. 

Centrus provided a fully integrated advisory service throughout the engagement, from the initial lender engagement strategy through to execution and documentation review. Centrus ran a competitive and structured process with both lenders, negotiating improvements across all key areas of the financing, and supported Calico’s Board and executive team throughout with regular briefings and governance support, including ISDA hedging training.

Anthony Collins Solicitors provided comprehensive legal counsel across both facility restatements, advising on all documentation and supporting the smooth completion of the transaction.  

“This is an excellent outcome for Calico and reflects the strength of the organisation’s relationships with its banking partners and its clear strategic direction. By running a structured and competitive engagement process, we were able to secure material improvements across every key metric – pricing, covenants, longevity and hedging structure. The aligning of gearing covenants  in particular is a transformational change, which alongside the material interest savings helps unlock additional capacity that Calico can deploy to continue delivering for its residents. We are proud to have supported the team at Calico through what was a complex and multi-faceted transaction.”

Tom Miller, Director – Centrus

“This restructure is an outstanding outcome for Calico and represents a significant step forward in strengthening our long-term financial resilience. The annual interest savings and materially enhanced debt capacity provide us with real additional firepower to invest in new and improved homes and services for our residents across Burnley and Lancashire – which is ultimately what drives everything we do. The support and advice we received from Centrus and Anthony Collins throughout the process was instrumental in achieving this result. They guided us through a complex, multi-faceted transaction with real clarity and ensured our Board were fully engaged and brought along on the journey at every stage, including through some technically challenging areas such as hedging strategy. We are also grateful to NatWest and Nationwide for their continued partnership and commitment to supporting Calico’s ambitions.”

Chloe Christian, Executive Director of Finance – Calico Homes

“These restatements are a fantastic result for Calico and a major step in strengthening their  long‑term financial position with their existing funders and we are delighted to play our part in advising Calico alongside Centrus in securing this restructuring which allows Calico to invest even more in new and better homes and provide the required services for its residents, which is what drives us every day.”

Adriana Klincova, Legal Director – Anthony Collins Solicitors

“I am delighted to have worked with Calico Homes and Centrus to achieve this result. NatWest has a longstanding successful relationship with Calico and a collaborative approach to reach a solution for all parties is testament to that.
NatWest’s ongoing support will enable Calico to continue its long track record of serving the Burnley community and enable them to meet the essential requirement of developing new warm, safe and affordable homes.”

Martin Skinner, Relationship Director, Social Housing – NatWest

“Nationwide is pleased to have supported Calico Homes on this important restructuring, which strengthens the organisation’s long-term financial resilience and provides greater capacity to invest in homes and services for its communities.
We are proud to be a long-standing funding partner to Calico, having supported the organisation since its inception in 2000. This enduring relationship reflects our continued commitment to the social housing sector and to working collaboratively with our borrowers to deliver sustainable, long-term outcomes.
This transaction demonstrates the value of strong partnerships in achieving financing solutions that enhance flexibility, improve efficiency and position organisations like Calico to continue delivering for their residents.”

Steve Goodyer, Senior Relationship Manager – Nationwide Building Society

For more information please contact Tom Miller, Director of Housing, Education & Care.

Transaction overview

Centrus, acting as treasury advisors and debt arrangers, and Bevan Brittan, as legal counsel, are delighted to have supported the recent completion of a £150m new financing for Magna Housing, a 9,000-home landlord in South West England.

The strategic refinancing, comprising £80 million in revolving credit facilities and £70 million in term debt facilities provided by Nationwide, Barclays and AIB, was executed on a highly competitive and flexible basis, with funds supporting Magna’s ambitious development programme over the next 5 years.

What value did Centrus add?

Centrus provided a fully integrated advisory service, from shaping a robust treasury strategy through to supporting the execution and completion of all documentation. Centrus also managed a comprehensive competitive process and ensured Magna’s board was regularly briefed and fully engaged in the process at all times, supporting a seamless governance process.

Drawing on our market-leading experience and deep lender relationships, Centrus delivered a highly competitive fundraising outcome, securing optimal terms for Magna. The engagement included proactive negotiations to enhance key provisions, ensuring the final treasury solution aligned seamlessly with Magna’s objectives and maximised financial flexibility and resilience to support future growth and investment

How did this transaction benefit Magna Homes?

• Favourable Covenants: Maintaining Magna’s favourable covenant definitions to maximise flexibility and headroom within the business plan.
• Flexible Drawing: Blended RCF and term debt with a 24‑month availability window, ensuring drawing flexibility and reducing cost‑of‑carry amid changeable development spending.
• Balance of Tenor and Cost: Weighted average life of bank debt maintained at 6 years, whilst securing a 19bps reduction of Magna’s bank portfolio weighted average margin. Chosen tenors reflected competitive offers and Magna’s existing long dated positions, ensuring amortisation of the portfolio is comfortably spread.
• Embedded Hedging Optionality: The outcome ensures that embedded hedging options were retained, providing low complexity and flexibility.

The housing finance team at Bevan Brittan, including Louise Leaver, Anna Clark, Louise Mookerjee, Weronika Ziecina and Jessica Church, advised Magna on the restatement of one facility and the negotiation of two new facilities, including related security documentation and accession to existing security trust arrangements. Bevan Brittan provided a holistic service, from reporting on term sheets, through to reviewing and negotiating suites of loan documentation for each of the three lenders concurrently, reporting comprehensively to both the board and the finance team.  The banking and charging teams worked closely with Centrus and the Magna team, offering a truly cohesive one-team approach to ensure a smooth and timely completion.   

“We’re delighted to have secured new funding to enable Magna to continue to deliver more affordable homes in line with our strategy. The support from Centrus and Bevan Brittan not only ensured appropriate governance but most importantly achieved best value, allowing us to keep more cash to invest in new homes, sealing a great job done by all.” 

Ian White, Head of Finance – Magna Homes

“It was an absolute pleasure to work with Magna and Centrus on this important funding update which will enable Magna to support their strategic plans going forward.”

Louise Leaver, Head of Housing Finance – Bevan Brittan

“We are delighted to have supported Magna in their latest fundraising process, which resulted in a highly competitive outcome that will support delivery of much needed new homes.”

Tom Miller, Director – Centrus

For more information, please get in touch with Tom Miller, Director of Housing, Education & Care.

Transaction overview

Two Rivers Housing have completed a refinancing that restructured £110m of existing loans and added a further £30m of new funding.

The transaction comprised £90m of term debt from Santander and a £50m RCF from Barclays. The new facilities replace legacy arrangements, improving pricing and flexibility, and better aligning with Two Rivers’ long‑term strategy.

What value did Centrus add?

Centrus provided end‑to‑end funding advice, leading the design, negotiation and execution of the transaction. Centrus:

• Leveraged detailed market insight to set clear pricing and covenant targets and hold lenders to them through the process.
• Led lender engagement and negotiations, delivering best‑in‑class pricing and terms, in several areas exceeding original targets.
• Secured widespread covenant improvements, including enhanced interest cover and gearing covenants.
• Achieved reduced margins and improved commercial terms versus the legacy loan portfolio.
• Managed execution through a volatile interest rate environment following the escalation of conflict in the Middle East, ensuring robust decision‑making and governance throughout the process.

How did this transaction benefit Two Rivers Housing?

The transaction significantly strengthened Two Rivers’ financial position and long‑term capacity to invest. Key benefits included:

• Widespread covenant improvements, including improved ICR and gearing headroom.
• Extended loan and hedging duration, and an additional £30m of new funding.
• Reduced margins and enhanced value for money.
• A robust funding platform to support ongoing investment in existing homes and new affordable housing.

“Centrus provided clear, expert advice throughout the refinancing, combining strong market insight with disciplined execution. They helped us secure highly competitive funding terms and supported robust governance and decision‑making around hedging during a period of heightened interest rate volatility. The new facilities give us greater flexibility and value for money, enabling continued investment in our homes and communities.”

Carol Dover, Deputy Chief Executive – Two Rivers Housing

“This transaction strengthens Two Rivers’ funding platform through competitive terms, improved flexibility and disciplined execution in a volatile market environment. It has been a pleasure to work with the Two Rivers’ team throughout this enjoyable process.”

Tom Archer, Director – Centrus

For more information, please get in touch with Tom Archer, Director of Housing, Education & Care.