News & Analysis

Canada Life enters student market with £31m loan

Canada Life Investments has backed UK REIT Empiric Student Property with a £31.1m 15-year fixed rate facility on eight UK assets. The new loan has a rate of 3.97% and is fixed up to a loan-to-value ratio of 50%. The eight assets are held as a lending group through an ESP subsidiary, Empiric Investments (Two) Limited.

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Canada Life Investments has made its foray into the UK student housing market with a £31.1m 15-year fixed rate facility to Empiric Student Property.

Screenshot 2015-05-12 at 1.38.33 PMThe new loan has a rate of 3.97% and is fixed up to a loan-to-value ratio of 50%. The eight student housing schemes are held as a lending group through an ESP subsidiary, Empiric Investments (Two) Limited.

Nicholas Bent, head of real estate finance at Canada Life Investments, said: “This arrangement helps us meet our ongoing objective to grow the loan book while providing both borrower and property diversification. Student housing is a sector where we would like to increase our lending exposure over the medium term.”

ESP develops student accommodation in university cities and towns across the UK.

Paul Hadaway, chief executive at the UK REIT, said: “The board continues to seek to optimise the capital structure of the company to ensure both longer and shorter term facilities can be employed as appropriate.”