Centrus and Anthony Collins advised Calico Homes on landmark debt restructure delivering annual interest savings of up to £564k and strengthened financial flexibility

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.

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