Sustainable investing
Sustainability is at the heart of Clarion Housing Group, the UK’s largest housing association. Our development arm, Latimer, builds thousands of homes each year, and our charitable foundation, Clarion Futures, runs one of the UK’s biggest social investment programmes.
In 2022-23:
- 2,032 homes built
- £17m invested in people in communities, generating a social value of £139m
- £2.5bn in net assets
- £1,008m turnover
- 78% of new homes affordable tenure
We exist to provide homes for those who need them most.
Our investors benefit from safe and secure investments, backed by bricks and mortar, which meet Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria and deliver a significant social return.
Framework for investors
Our Sustainable Housing Finance Framework, established in 2019, provides a structure within which our investors can make sustainable investments. It is aligned with the International Capital Market Association’s Social Bond Principles, Green Bond Principles, and Green Loan Principles.
Under our framework, funds are allocated to specific projects with a sustainable character (project financing) or housing stock classified as eligible for impact investing (company financing). A safety buffer is in place to ensure there are sufficient sustainable assets eligible for funding through the framework. This buffer stood at £1.6bn on 31 March 2023.
A sustainable housing team is responsible for monitoring compliance with the framework and supervising the usage and development of the sustainable ‘safety buffer.’
Sustainability bonds
We have issued £950m of sustainability bonds in the debt capital markets to date:
- In January 2020 we raised £350m with a 15-year bond priced at a coupon of 1.875 per cent. It was 3.7x oversubscribed.
- In November 2020 we raised £300m with a 12-year bond priced at a coupon of 1.25 per cent. It was 2.3x oversubscribed.
- In September 2021 we raised £300m with a 30-year bond priced at a coupon of 1.875 per cent. It was 3.6x oversubscribed.
The proceeds of these bonds are to be used exclusively for the development of new energy efficient affordable homes in line with the Sustainable Housing Finance Framework.
Net expenditure on energy efficient homes
£341m
in 2020-21
£415m
in 2021-22
“Clarion appeals to investors seeking a business built for social purpose, with a commitment to ESG principles, robust financial performance and an ambitious plan for the future.”
The road to becoming net zero
We are the UK’s first housing association accredited with the pan-European Certified Sustainable Housing Label, which assesses more than 40 environmental, social and governance criteria.
Our work contributes to several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals from tackling poverty and climate change to promoting sustainable communities.
We’re embedding sustainability across our operations, and our Sustainable Development Roadmap charts our route to having all our new homes zero carbon compatible by 2025. This is a key milestone in us reaching net zero by 2050.
Clarion Housing Group is “an issuer with a positive overall sustainability performance” according to sustainability rating agency imug|rating’s independent review of our Sustainable Housing Finance Framework.
Read the reviewDownload our 2022-23 Social Impact Report
