CURO Housing Group gets carried away at the auctions – £6m lost within 24 hours following purchase of former MOD site at Foxhill Bath for £47m.

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“The Curo Group has finalised a deal for £75 million of funding with M&G Investments part of the Prudential Group…The agreement consists of £50 million to continue the growth of 12,000-home Curo’s existing building programme and its move into the private sale market, with the option of a further £25 million for additional projects. The deal’s terms include £40 million at a fixed interest rate for 30 years, £10 million at an interest rate linked to the retail price index for 25 years, and an optional additional £25 million available for up to four years.( Inside Housing 28/06/2013)

“The housing provider The Curo Group paid roughly £47m for the MOD Foxhill site” (Property Week 4 Jul 2014)

“The Curo Group posted £5.72 million in impairment charges compared with none in 2012, the largest increase of all housing associations, said the change was the result of the acquisition of a 48-acre Ministry of Defence site at Foxhill in Bath in March 2013. The social housing landlord paid a premium for the site, then immediately wrote-down the value, because of its close proximity to an existing site in need of ‘major regeneration’. Purchasing the MoD site will allow this regeneration to take place. (Inside Housing 24/01/2014 |

The proposed major regeneration scheme at Foxhill involves demolishing 500 existing homes , 100 managed by The Curo Group and 400 which have been sold off under the Right to Buy scheme.

The Curo Group has yet to get planning permission, has no compulsory purchase powers and would need a further £60m plus to buy back the 400 homes sold under right to buy if it could get the owners agreement.