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South East landlord secures £75m private placement to boost ESG agenda

South East housing association Settle has completed a £75m private placement with Aviva Investors, which will be used to advance its environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals.

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One of Settle’s commitments is to ensure all properties achieve an energy performance certificate rating of ‘C’ or better by 2025 (picture: Getty)
One of Settle’s commitments is to ensure all properties achieve an energy performance certificate rating of ‘C’ or better by 2025 (picture: Getty)
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South East landlord secures £75m private placement to boost ESG agenda #UKhousing

@settle_foryou completes £75m delayed funding deal with @avivainvestors #UKhousing

The facility spans 30 years and includes deferred funding tranches at 12 and 24 months. It will help Settle meet its ESG commitments, which include ensuring that all properties achieve an energy performance certificate of ‘C’ or better by 2025.

Aviva would not disclose the coupon rate for the placement when asked by Inside Housing.

The housing association will also use the funding to help meet its 2024 goal of at least 1,500 new homes, including a targeted focus on shared ownership to meet the current supply shortage of affordable homes in the region.

ESG has become an increasingly important aspect of housing associations’ business model, and a number of ESG-linked deals have been made.

Large G15 association Optivo recently published an ‘ESG report for investors’ as part of its push to standardise ESG reporting in the sector.


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Munawer Shafi, head of structured finance at Aviva Investors, said: “We are very happy to have completed this deal with Settle and further our investment in the UK’s social housing programme, at a time when the provision of such schemes is increasingly important for at-risk income groups across the country.

“The quasi-sovereign nature of social housing makes it an attractive defensive sector in the current environment, particularly when it comes to proven operators such as Settle, which we expect to deliver strong long-term performance within the overall portfolio.”

Ashish Dafria, chief investment officer at Aviva UK Life, said: “We are pleased to support Settle’s ambition to increase the supply of affordable homes in their regions of focus.

“Coupled with this, Settle’s community work and its commitment to continue to invest to ensure safe and energy-efficient homes also supports our desire for investment opportunities that seek to address key sustainability and ESG criteria.”

Gavin Cansfield, chief executive of Settle, said: “We are delighted to have agreed this deal with Aviva Investors, as it is another step to achieving our future ambitions to support communities across Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.

“This £75m will help us realise our aim of building 1,500 homes by 2024 – 90% of which will be affordable. We will continue pushing ourselves to do more and will explore further funding opportunities to support our growth plans over the coming months.”

Update at 16:50 25.08.20: the story was updated to include comments from Gavin Cansfield.

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