Platform raises £250m in 14-year bond issuance at record low spread

Ms Farrar said: “We had a huge order book. Within a relatively short space of time, orders were coming in strong, which shows investors are very, very keen to invest in housing associations. It’s great news for the sector because it shows there is demand for others who may be considering an issuance.

“There will be another issuance, I would think next year, because we’re building so much, so we plan to continue to go out to the market. We do continue to look at other sources of funds so that we can get the lowest possible cost, but the cost of funds that we achieved today is less than our long-term business plan assumption, so we’re pleased.”

Speed to market

Ms Farrar said that Platform had originally been planning to issue early in the new year but acted quickly to issue now, to take advantage of gilts falling over the past two weeks. 

She said: “We were watching the market; we have an EMTN programme so we can issue quite quickly. And gilts fell quite steadily over the last two weeks.

“So, we had a look at that, and we thought, ‘there’s no guarantee that gilts are going to stay that low’. We may be wrong, they may continue to fall but things are so uncertain in the world at the moment that we thought we’d go and issue in a period of relative calm. And that’s why the market is incredibly busy this week, because lots of other people have been doing the same thing.

She added: “[Our] board allows us to move quickly when the market changes, and the market did change, so we took advantage of it,” she said.

When asked about why Platform opted for a bond issuance over other funding routes, Ms Farrar said: “Our treasury strategy is to match our long-term needs of the organisation with long-term money, and the most efficient way is a bond issuance, but also to supplement it with the shorter-term bank debt and revolving credit facilities (RCFs), and we have a number of low-cost RCFs.”

Ms Farrar added that Platform opted for a shorter-term bond issuance of 12 to 14 years as this tenure is “much more price efficient” and the longer curve is “not as attractive at the moment”.

Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds were the bookrunners. Bevan Brittan served as Platform’s lawyers and KPMG conducted the audit. Addleshaw Goddard represented the investors, Savills provided the valuation and M&G was the security trustee.

Platform’s last issuance in the capital markets was a 26-year, £250m sustainability bond issued last year.

According to its results in 2024-25, Platform grew its pre-tax surplus from £26.4m in 2023-24 to £53.5m last year.

During the year the housing association completed 1,036 homes, a drop from 1,202 in the previous year. Platform invested £287.9m in new homes, compared to £313.2m in 2023-24.

The results also showed that the landlord invested £62.5m in its existing homes, up from £39.4m in the previous year. At the end of March, 81 per cent of its homes were rated EPC C or above. Platform was also allocated £8m under the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund Wave 3 during the year.