Housing association secures £75m sustainability loan from Lloyds Bank

Alliance Homes said it will also use the funding to tackle fuel poverty by retrofitting its least efficient homes, investing in the communities it operates in, and growing its portfolio of affordable homes by 25 per cent.

Katrina Michael, chief finance officer at Alliance Homes, said: “The challenges of addressing the current housing shortage while investing in communities and becoming more sustainable are top of the agenda for social housing providers across the UK.

“We must address these challenges head-on and meet our responsibility to future-proof our homes with the support of our banking partners.

“This funding will allow us to invest in improving communities across the West of England and we’re looking forward to working with Lloyds Bank to achieve our ambitions.”

Lloyds signed its first SLL with a housing association in January 2020, and shortly after committed to at least a third of the £1.5bn of funding it aimed to deliver to UK social housing in calendar year 2021 as being “ESG spending”.

A 2021 environmental, social and governance (ESG) report for the bank reported that during the year it delivered “£3.4bn of new funding, of which £2.4bn is related to sustainability improvements, in support of the social housing sector”, alongside supporting clients to raise labelled debt in the capital markets.

Lauren Bailey, relationship director for housing at Lloyds Bank, said: “Housing associations have no time to waste to invest in growing their stock and addressing ESG challenges.

“They need to act now to ensure the communities they operate in have the foundations in place needed to prosper.

“Alliance Homes recognise this, and we’re pleased to support the association as it works to meet the challenges the sector faces.”