Loan will help deliver more social housing

THE local housing association, Soha, is well on the way to helping those 1,450 people on the waiting list for homes in the district, following a ground-breaking deal with the district council.

South Oxfordshire District Council has loaned £15 million of its reserves to Soha Housing for 20 years, which will be secured on some of Soha’s properties. The loan means that Soha can borrow the money at a cheaper rate than it could a from a bank or elsewhere.

Soha are the biggest social housing provider in South Oxfordshire, owning and managing around 5,800 properties.

This loan will help fund Soha’s current development programme, which currently delivers around 250 much needed affordable new homes a year. The terms of the loan mean that at least 75% of the homes must be in South Oxfordshire and the rest within 10 miles of the district.

Whether or not the loan money will help fund affordable new homes in future developments planned for Thame, is not yet clear.  Richard Peacock, Chief Executive of Soha, was unavailable for comment later this afternoon.