The two-year, 75% loan-to-value facility refinances an existing loan and will help Audley sell the remaining 118 homes in the four retirement villages (Chalfont Dene, Cooper’s Hill, Ellerslie and St George’s Place) spread across Greater London and the Midlands.

Each of the villages, which total 466 units, provide high-quality retirement living, with access to swimming pool, gym, hair salon, library, restaurants and landscaped environments, while 24/24 support services are provided through Audley Care.

The sustainability performance of each village is subject to regular external benchmarking.

Gavin Eustace, founding partner at Silbury Finance, commented: 'The structural trends underpinning the UK retirement living investment case are highly compelling, namely a rapidly growing population of over 65s and the significant shortfall of suitable accommodation.  We also view it as highly defensive versus other real estate subsectors in the current high inflation environment, given the wealth preservation characteristics of its end-user. The pool of lenders with the track record, expertise and funding certainty to consistently underwrite larger loans in the space is small. Despite current market volatility our deal pipeline is strong, which should enable us, in partnership with best-in-class sponsors, to maintain our loan book growth.”

Gary Burton, CFO, Audley Group, added: ‘We’re very pleased to be further strengthening our relationship with Silbury Finance. This facility is a progressive step forward for Audley, increasing leverage for a smaller security pool, and for the integrated retirement sector more generally. Our sector is chronically underserved and prime for expansion, driven by an ageing population, increasing demand and growing investment levels.’

This is Silbury’s second loan to Audley, whose portfolio includes 21 retirement villages across the UK, out of a total of £200 mln (€230 mln) in funding by Silbury for the retirement living sector, across seven schemes.