Sovereign Network Group (SNG), formed in 2023 through a merger of Sovereign and Network Homes, is a housing association in the UK owning and managing over 85,000 homes across the South, West, and East of England, including London.

The group has a clear social purpose: to provide good, affordable homes that are the foundation of a better life, supporting communities to thrive over generations. Committed to helping to tackle the UK’s housing crisis, SNG aims to develop 25,000 new affordable homes over the next decade. 

Seeking easier access to funding to deliver new high-quality affordable homes, SNG approached NatWest to help establish the housing association’s first Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) programme. Future issuance under the £1.5 billion EMTN programme is expected to be applied in accordance with SNG’s Sustainable Finance Framework.   

In addition to acting as arranger of the EMTN programme, NatWest supported SNG with a new £250 million term facility and a new Loan-Linked ISDA which provides SNG with flexibility in in its management of the interest risk associated with the facility whilst also offering better pricing compared to a traditional fixed rate loan. 

Anup Dholakia, Director of Treasury at SNG, said: “Building more genuinely affordable homes is vital to tackling the housing crisis. This funding deal with NatWest will help us progress our ambition to deliver 25,000 new homes over the course of this decade. Each one will meet our Homes and Place Standard — creating better places to live and thriving communities for our customers. This balance sheet support, complemented by the loan-linked ISDA, is a very attractive offering in the current economic environment and is very supportive to SNG’s social purpose objectives.”

Dean Holleyman, Relationship Director at NatWest, said: “Our funding agreement with SNG and arranging their EMTN programme will help to support SNG’s ambitious plans to provide good, affordable homes that are a foundation of thriving communities. These transactions reflect NatWest’s purpose-led strategy: to accelerate social value in areas where we can make a meaningful contribution as a bank.”

Paul Eyre, Head of Residential and Housing Finance, NatWest, commented: “We are very pleased to be able to support SNG’s ambition to deliver 25,000 new homes over the course of this decade. NatWest is one of the largest lenders to the social housing sector in the UK, and this new funding package contributes towards NatWest’s ambition to lend £7.5 billion to the social housing sector  by the end of 2026. The number has been upgraded from £5 billion announced in March 2024 as levels of demand for housing increase.” 

Dominic Brindley, Director Financing and Risk Solutions, NatWest Markets, added: “We were delighted to be able to support SNG with the establishment of both the new EMTN programme and ISDA. Both pieces of work will allow SNG to be more agile in their approach to both funding and hedging, allowing greater flexibility to choose strategies that make sense against a volatile market backdrop.”