TOWN Hall chiefs have approved the council extending the availability period of two loan facilities.

At its meeting on Monday, as recommended, the council’s cabinet approved the council extending the availability period of the loan facilities with Auxesia Homes Ltd.

A report to cabinet said: “In January 2022, the cabinet approved two loan facilities with Auxesia Homes Ltd – £6.5m revolving facility and £22.5m stabilised facility for a period of 30 months from the start of the agreement. This will expire in October 2024.

“In 2023, Auxesia Homes requested some changes to the agreements of which the council agreed to progressing the possibility of an extension of the loan until April 2027.

“Auxesia Homes are a niche housing association providing new and good quality 2 and 3 bedroomed houses, mainly for affordable rent and shared ownership. Their primary customers are those in public service, most significantly veterans, serving armed forces personnel, NHS workers, teachers, care workers and charity workers.

“They plan to utilise part of the WBC facility to provide 102 affordable properties in Warrington. This will help reduce current 3,500 waiting list in Warrington for affordable homes.

“The proposal is to extend the loan facilities until April 2027.

“As part of the due diligence process, several options were presented as to how best to address the extension in consultation with Auxesia and our advisors.

"This was to incorporate some of the recommendations from the advisors to help mitigate some of the risk and to allow Auxesia to stabilise their operation in readiness for refinancing when the loan matures.

"These options are set out in Part 2 of the report.

“The loan was negotiated on a full commercial loan basis, and this will be case during the extended availability period, however some changes to the terms will be made in the council’s interests. Further details are contained within the Part 2 report.”

The cabinet approved the council extending the availability period of the £6.5m revolving facility and the £22.5m stabilised facility with Auxesia Homes Ltd until April 2027.