Lloyds provides £61m through green initiative

Lloyds has refinanced £61 million of debt secured by a portfolio of UK business centres through its Green Lending Initiative.

The two loans, which have been granted a margin discount of 20 basis points through the green initiative, have been provided to Bridges Fund Management, a specialist sustainable and impact investor.

The deal refinances acquisition finance for what is now Flexspace, a nationwide portfolio of 58 business centres. Flexspace provides managed workspace to mainly SME occupiers, with small light industrial, workshop, office, studio and storage units.

As part of the deal, Bridges has agreed to ensure that all its Flexspace properties will obtain at least 30 percent of their energy from renewable sources by the end of 2017, rising to 45 percent by the end of 2018.

It is the first time the margin discount available under the Green Lending Initiative has been applied to pre-existing funding agreements, rather than as part of a new term loan.

“The flexibility of the Green Lending Initiative means that we can retrospectively reward clients that are taking a proactive approach to managing the environmental performance of their assets,” said Ray Ellis, head of London & south east – private groups at Lloyds Bank Commercial Real Estate.