Sustainable Finance Framework
Our Sustainable Finance Framework aligns our future financing to strategic commitments, underpinned throughout by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Launched in 2021, it was the first in the sector to be accredited by S&P Global Ratings.
It incorporates funding options including UK listed bonds, UK and US private placements, bank facilities (revolving and term debt). The framework is aligned to the International Capital Markets Association principles for: green bonds, social bonds and sustainability bond guidelines. It also satisfies Loan Market Association principles for green loans and social loans.
Det Norske Veritas DNV is a global assurance and risk management company. Here you'll find DNV’s review of our Sustainable Finance Framework, confirming its alignment with sustainability standards for funding green and social projects.
Sustainability linked loans (SLL)
Our SLLs link our finance with our purpose. The revolving credit facilities see margins and fees on the loans brought down as long as we successfully meet pre-agreed Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) targets. These targets include a range of metrics including; the number of new social homes we rent, our customer advocacy score, our carbon emissions, colleague sick days, supporting customers into employment, reducing our repairs back log and reducing our gender pay gap. These targets encourage us to deliver on what we say we will. The savings we do generate are re-invested into projects which support and empower our communities.
Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRS)
The Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRS) was launched in November 2020 as a valuable voluntary reporting framework designed to help housing providers report on their ESG performance in a transparent, consistent and comparable manner. The latest version of the SRS, version 2.0 comes into effect from October 2024. We publish our SRS performance annually to see how we compare to our peers. We believe our approach to sustainability is as unique as the people and communities we serve, so we will always look to go beyond the sector standard.
The SRS includes 12 themes and 48 criteria, across all areas of Environmental, Social and Governance, and has been adopted by over 100 housing providers, banks and investors. The standard has been designed to align with both the ICMA and LMA Social and Sustainability Bond Principles and can help housing associations meet the reporting standards required by the ICMA and LMA. These metrics help us to demonstrate how we interact with people, places and the planet.
