A HOUSING association has been handed £45m to help build hundreds of new homes.

Bolton at Homes' recent funding from The Royal Bank of Scotland means the group now has a pot of £100m with which it plans to construct 785 new houses over the next three years.

However, not all of these properties will be in Bolton, with some built by Manchester-based Arcon Housing Group - this smaller housing association has just become a subsidiary of Bolton at Home as the two organisations chase affordable homes targets.

Edward Mellor, executive director of finance at Bolton at Home said he was "delighted" with the new funding from RBS.

"This deal will be a significant boost to our ambition to build much-needed affordable homes in the Greater Manchester area," he said.

"We’d already been working closely with Arcon as part of the Greater Manchester Housing Providers group.

"It has knowledge and skills that complement our own, including a wealth of development expertise. This will be invaluable to our joint ambitions to build the affordable homes the region so urgently needs."

The £45m fund from RBS will be added to £55m that Bolton at Home has already secured through loans.

In addition, the 785 new homes that will now be built takes the association's total for the next three years up to 960.

Nigel Barclay, associate director of housing finance at RBS, said: “We are thrilled to further support the Bolton at Home Group with its ambitious growth strategy.

"We also welcome Arcon Housing Association to the Group and look forward to seeing what the two organisations together can deliver for the sector.”

Arcon, which manages properties in Greater Manchester, Cheshire, High Peak and Fylde, officially became a subsidiary of Bolton at Home this week, after months of discussions between the boards of the two organisations.

The two groups aim to build 1,400 new houses by 2023.

The recent agreement between both associations includes funder consent for Arcon Housing Group to join the Bolton at Home Group and removes some historic loan covenants linked to the stock transfer from Bolton Council in 2011.

Mike Roche is the director of Savills Financial Consultants, which helped both housing associations secure RBS funding.

He said: “We are thrilled to further support the Bolton at Home Group with its ambitious growth strategy. We also welcome Arcon Housing Association to the Group and look forward to seeing what the two organisations together can deliver for the sector.”