Alliance Homes, a South West-based social housing provider, has secured a £75m sustainability-linked loan from Lloyds Bank to build 2,000 new homes and hit ambitious sustainability targets.
The housing association will use the funding to help it meet the goals set out in its corporate plan, which include tackling fuel poverty by retrofitting its least efficient homes, investing in the communities it operates in, and growing its portfolio of affordable homes by 25%.
It will be measured by three KPIs to secure margin discounts on the funding. These consist of going beyond government standards for energy efficiency by hitting EPC C on all its stock by 2028, building 2,000 new homes over the next 10 years, and installing 519 new photovoltaic systems to improve energy generation capacity to tackle fuel poverty of its customers.
Alliance Homes is a Portishead-based social housing provider that currently owns and manages around 6,500 homes across North Somerset and the West of England. It services around 15,000 customers each year and works alongside North Somerset Council to provide a range of services to enable people across its communities to live independent lives.
Katrina Michael, Chief Financial 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.”
Lauren Bailey, Relationship Director for Housing at Lloyds Bank, commented: “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.”
