TIDM14MD

RNS Number : 2266C

Stonewater Funding PLC

17 June 2021

Stonewater Funding PLC

17 June 2021

Publication of Sustainable Finance Framework

Stonewater, a leading social housing provider with 33,600 homes, is pleased to announce the publication of its Sustainable Finance Framework (SFF) and accompanying Second-Party Opinion (SPO).

The publication of the SFF and SPO follows the recent non-deal roadshow, as planned. The documents outline the progress Stonewater has made in recent years on Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) by investing in existing and new homes, as well as the wider built environment and supporting customers through the pandemic.

In addition to 350 properties being upgraded each year to at least EPC C, Stonewater's annual targets in its SFF include planting 3,000 trees and installing 200 low-carbon heating systems.

Stonewater is an early adopter of the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing and is keen to present as clear a picture as possible to investors of the positive impact of their investments.

The SFF aligns with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals and other internationally recognised ESG standards and outlines how bonds, loans and other financing instruments will be entered into. Notable commitments in Stonewater's SFF that support these principles include to:

   -     Build 6,250 new homes in the five-year period until March 2024 
   -     Develop 1,500 new homes every year from 2022/23

- Develop strategies for sustainable procurement, sustainable waste management and water management

   -     Have no homes with an EPC rating below Band C (SAP 69) by 2030

- Reduce Stonewater's office carbon footprint by 33% to 81.5 tons per annum and its business mileage carbon footprint by 33% to 482 tons per annum by March 2022 (compared to the financial year 2019/20)

John Bruton, Executive Director - Finance at Stonewater, said: "This is a very significant moment for us and all our 75,000 customers. While Stonewater has been working for a number of years now to cut carbon emissions and make our homes more affordable, the Sustainable Finance Framework makes it crystal clear what we will do in these crucial areas and when."

The SPO was provided by ISS Corporate Solutions and it verifies that Stonewater's SFF aligns to the relevant International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and Loan Market Association (LMA) standards.

In addition to the SFF and SPO, Stonewater has recently had its credit rating of A+ with a stable outlook reaffirmed by S&P. This follows Stonewater retaining its G1/V1 rating from the Regulator of Social Housing, after an in-depth assessment published on 31 March 2021.

The full SFF and SPO are available on Stonewater's website https://www.stonewater.org/about-us/investor-relations/ .

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