- Ardcairn Capital to finance accelerated growth across the Irish housing market, with an ambition to provide funding to provide 10,000 homes over the next five years.
- Backed by Catalyst, a £5 billion global investment strategy run by M&G Investments, part of M&G plc.
Ardcairn Capital, a new development finance lender, has partnered with M&G Investments to help small and medium sized residential developers deliver housing projects across Ireland. The new platform is supported by M&G’s £5 billion Catalyst fund, which invests in private companies tackling environmental and social issues such as Ireland’s housing crisis, on behalf of Prudential policyholders and customers.
Ardcairn Capital aims to deploy significant capital to help developers bring new and existing residential projects, including social housing, to completion. The new lender is entering the market with competitive financing of up to 90% of overall project costs for developers who have a track record of delivering quality.
Ardcairn will consider all sizes of housing developments, whether social housing, traditional houses or apartments for private sale, with a loan requirement of €2 million upwards.
Alex Seddon, Head of Catalyst at M&G, said “Creating more, good quality, homes is a priority for most societies around the world, and also a priority for our Catalyst fund, which is channelling investment to help make this happen. We welcome this opportunity to partner with Ardcairn Capital to help overcome some of the barriers that smaller developers face in delivering residential and social housing.”
Daire McCarthy, Co-Founder and CEO of Ardcairn Capital, said “Ireland continues to experience a significant shortage in housing stock – particularly affordable and social housing. Momentum in construction was halted as Ireland was hit by Covid 19. Our ability to recover has also been impacted by the exodus of skilled workers to other countries post 2008, and those seeking economic opportunities abroad. However, we are starting to see this space recover gradually, but not enough to meet the reported 50,000 homes required per annum, and the investment it takes to reach this target.
“We are therefore delighted to partner with M&G and are excited about the potential of the development finance space in Ireland, which is brimming with compelling opportunities for small to medium sized homebuilders, who continue to be overlooked and under serviced in the market. “Our evolving, fast-paced society – accompanied by changes in demographics, preferences and regulation – is having a profound effect on how we live and commute. We need to be creative, and talk about more options for accommodation than we have done in the past – placing affordability at the centre of these conversations.”
