Oaktree Capital Management-backed development lender Silbury Finance has provided a joint venture vehicle established by Audley Group and Senior Living Investment Partners with a £66.5m loan.
Senior Living Investment Partners is a partnership between Pension Insurance Corporation and Octopus Real Estate. The 53-month sustainability-linked senior facility will fund the acquisition and development of a luxury 112-home Audley retirement scheme in Surrey.
Headley Court is a 23-acre site in Leatherhead that will comprise 12 two-bedroom apartments within a redeveloped Grade II listed historic mansion house and 100 newly constructed apartments and houses.
The scheme’s amenities will include a restaurant, owners’ lounge, pool, sauna and steam room, gym, fitness studio and inside and outside terrace seating areas. Back-of-house and operational office space will be housed within the mansion house.
Due to complete in 2027, the development will have high ESG credentials, with a BREEAM rating of Very Good or above. The site masterplan also includes the restoration of the property’s landscaped gardens, which will be open to the public.
Gavin Eustace, chief executive of Silbury Finance, said: “We continue to further our exposure to the nascent but high-growth retirement living sector, focusing on sustainable schemes in areas with supportive local demographics, alongside our institutional partners, having now provided Octopus with around £270m and Audley £175m of senior finance.
“Despite the wider market uncertainty, the UK living sector’s fundamentals remain highly compelling. Our track record and knowledge, coupled with the backing of a global investor with a strong real estate conviction, provides a differentiated platform as we look to accelerate our deployment in 2024, including writing larger-ticket loans, while remaining highly disciplined in our underwriting.”
Domas Karsokas, investment director at Octopus Real Estate, added: “Audley, PIC and Silbury all share our core ESG values here at Octopus, and recognise the acute need to develop retirement communities at pace in the UK. The structure and terms of the debt are well suited to a development project and will support returns to our institutional investors.”
The transaction is the fifth between Silbury and Octopus Real Estate in the retirement sector, one of Silbury’s high-conviction sectors owing to demand being driven by an ageing population. Silbury has now funded £750m of lending in the UK living sector since 2021.
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