CBRE arranges £42m debt facility from OakNorth Bank for retirement village development

By Bridging Loan Directory 19th January 2021

OakNorth Bank – the UK bank powered by OakNorth – has completed a £42m loan to a vertically integrated retirement living investor, developer and operator advised by CBRE’s Debt & Structured Finance team, part of CBRE Capital Advisors.

The capital will be used to develop 84 retirement homes in a purpose-built village in South-East England that will include extensive health and recreational amenities, including a spa and treatment rooms, pool, gym, lounge bar, library and restaurant.

Chris Gow, Executive Director, Debt & Structured Finance, CBRE commented:

“We have seen demand for retirement properties increase over the last 12 months as a result of the pandemic.

Many elderly individuals and couples are seeking to downsize and move to retirement villages where they benefit from high-end accommodation but with reduced household upkeep, as well as a community where they can have more of a social life with care availability as required.

This growth is attracting significant amounts of capital from Institutions and Private Equity firms who are looking to partner with proven operators in the sector.

Through its Operational Real Estate platform, CBRE has invested significant time in understanding the sector and its lender universe and this financing is the first of several retirement living transactions that we will complete in the coming weeks.

We were delighted to work with the team at OakNorth Bank who have a clear understanding of the retirement living sector and were able to structure a flexible and attractive facility that helped achieve our client’s goals.”

Deepesh Thakrar, Senior Director of Debt Finance at OakNorth Bank, said:

“Demand for retirement housing in the UK far exceeds supply: over 11,000 new care units need to be built each year by 2026 to keep up with demand, yet only 3,220 have been built annually for the last decade.

We are therefore delighted to have worked with CBRE to support the borrower in bringing this new retirement village to market.

The borrower’s approach of focusing on providing the very best in luxury living underpinned by discreet care and support has turned the concept of later living on its head and will no doubt make it an attractive choice for retirees in the South East.”