SNG secures £150m sustainability-linked RCF from Swedish bank

James Lennard, deputy head of Handelsbanken’s large corporates UK team, told Social Housing the bank has been a funder in the sector for “a number of years” and has “a number of housing association customers” already. However the deal with SNG is the first loan it has made public, he added.

Mr Lennard said that Handelsbanken had previously agreed a loan with Sovereign Housing Association, but this is the bank’s first to SNG since the merger. The bank adopted the sector’s Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing in April last year.

Mr Lennard said: “We’re delighted to support SNG with this sustainability-linked facility. Housing associations have long been core customers of Handelsbanken, which is why we are very pleased to support SNG to both increase levels of housing stock and retrofit their existing stock.

“We recognise SNG’s commitment to high standards of development and reducing its carbon footprint.”

In its results for 2023-24, SNG said it plans to invest a total of £9.2bn over the next 10 years in new and existing homes, with ambitions to improve 15,000 existing homes and to deliver 25,000 new homes within the period.

Scott Galpin, head of strategic treasury at SNG, said: “Ensuring the delivery of the new homes to address the housing crisis is a huge challenge, but new flexible funding facilities like this loan will help us achieve our ambitions.

“By entering into this sustainability-linked loan, Handelsbanken is supporting our ambitions to develop 25,000 homes over 10 years, as well as our journey to reaching net zero by 2050.”

In November, SNG secured a £100m revolving credit facility with AIB to invest in new and existing homes.

In its financial results for 2023-24, which were its first as a combined group, SNG reported a pre-tax surplus of £62.9m. This was a drop from £71.3m for the equivalent entities of Sovereign and Network Homes in the previous financial year.