East of England housing association completes £210m refinance

The housing association also agreed an additional £50m, 10-year term facility with the bank. The landlord said this was agreed at “attractive rates following a competitive tender exercise”.

At the same time, Eastlight refinanced its sustainability-linked RCF with Lloyds, increasing this to £60m over a five-year term.

This facility links borrowing costs to the achievement of sustainability performance measures, rewarding the association for taking action to improve its Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings and for achieving targets relating to its diversity, equality and inclusion strategy.

The interest rates were undisclosed.

The landlord also completed documentation of key performance indicators on its £100m sustainability-linked loan facility with Danske Bank. This includes lower borrowing costs being linked to improving EPC ratings across existing homes and reducing the gender pay gap.

Eastlight said that, together, the transactions improve its funding certainty, support investment in homes and services, and “underline the association’s commitment to combining financial prudence with sustainability”.

David Mullen, chief financial officer at Eastlight, said: “These financing arrangements strengthen Eastlight’s ability to deliver against our corporate strategy. They provide the financial resilience to invest in our homes and neighbourhoods, while embedding sustainability into our operations.

“We remain committed to being resident-led, place-based and environmentally responsible, ensuring that the services we provide reflect our customers’ needs and priorities.”

Aradhna Lawson, senior relationship director at Santander UK, said: “We are delighted to have supported Eastlight on this refinance exercise, further expanding on our long-standing relationship and enabling Eastlight to deliver much-needed quality and affordable housing and to invest in their homes and neighbourhoods.”

Lauren Bailey, associate director for housing at Lloyds, said the bank has provided lending to the social housing sector for decades, and believes that tackling affordability and sustainability are “important steps in creating housing that is fit for future purpose”.

“We are proud to support Eastlight as it invests in its communities while linking its funding to positive social and environmental outcomes, and look forward to seeing it build new, energy-efficient homes and retrofit existing properties to higher sustainability standards,” she said.

Terri McCullagh, relationship director, social housing at Danske Bank, said the bank is “committed” to supporting its customers on their sustainability journey, and is pleased to align Eastlight’s existing facility with its “ambitious sustainability objectives”.

“We look forward to continuing our partnership with Eastlight as they drive meaningful and sustainable change across their homes and communities,” she said.

In November, Eastlight secured a £30m loan under the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme to support the delivery of more than 120 new homes for both affordable rent and shared ownership tenures.

According to its financial results for 2024-25, the landlord grew its group pre-tax surplus from £9.7m in 2023-24 to £11.7m last year.