Clarion announces new banking partnership with ABN AMRO Bank

Clarion Housing Group has agreed a new £150 million credit facility with ABN AMRO Bank.

The new facility will assist Clarion in delivering on its mission to provide homes to those who need them most.

ABN AMRO and Clarion will seek to agree a set of sustainability Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the facility in the coming months. These KPIs will be closely linked to Clarion’s Sustainability Strategy and its Climate Transition Plan, which the Group intends to publish later this year. Where Clarion achieves the KPIs, it will make a saving on the facility which it will use to directly support the work of its charitable foundation, Clarion Futures.

Last year, Clarion Futures helped over 2,000 people secure employment and has helped nearly 6,000 people access training. Demand for support from its Clarion Futures Money service was high, and 17,656 money guidance and financial inclusion interventions were made by the service and its external partners. It also awarded a total of £598,984 in grant funding to organisations including food banks, community groups and local charities.

Andrew Hill, Clarion’s Director of Treasury and Corporate Finance, said:

“We have been really impressed with ABN AMRO’s clear commitment to the social housing sector in the UK in recent years, and we are delighted that ABN AMRO has joined our relationship banking group. Clarion places great value on these partnerships beyond just the finance they provide, and we look forward to delivering the wider societal and environmental benefits its commitment will allow.”

Rutilio Merien, ABN AMRO’s Head of UK Coverage Real Estate, said:

“We are delighted to support Clarion with this new credit facility and the endeavour to include both sustainability and social linked KPIs which align perfectly with ABN AMRO’s purpose of ‘Banking for better, for generations to come’.

The UK social housing sector faces challenges that go to the heart of society in terms of availability, quality and safety as well as reducing carbon footprint. ABN AMRO is proud to be able to play an active role in supporting Clarion and the sector.”