PA Housing has issued a £400m, fifteen-year bond using its sustainable funding approach, supported by Lloyds Bank and Barclays.
The funds will be used to help deliver the 23,000-home housing association’s business plan, including investment in sustainability measures for existing homes and building 6,000 new homes by 2030.
The bond was priced at 87bps over gilts (the cost of government borrowing) and had an all-in coupon of 2.00 per cent. £100m of the bond is retained for future use.
The Sustainable Finance Framework (SFF) has been developed to allow PA Housing to work with investors keen to find opportunities that meet their ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) requirements.
The SFF aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and will allow investors to demonstrate their funds are being used to deliver key aims such as more energy-efficient, social homes.
Simon Hatchman, executive director for resources, at PA Housing, said: “This is a really important day for PA Housing. As a not-for-profit social housing provider, we have the potential to make a profoundly positive impact on people’s lives and we intend to do all we can to make this a reality. By raising funds through our new Sustainable Finance Framework, we are ensuring we use our strong balance sheet to secure competitive funding from a range of investors. This allows us to invest more in improving our existing homes to make them cheaper to live in and build 6,000 more social homes to high energy-efficiency standards by 2030. The funding will also enable us to invest in wider estates infrastructure, including electric vehicle charging points, recycling facilities and improvements to public space.”
