Trowers & Hamlins is delighted to have advised Affordable Housing Finance Plc (AHF), a subsidiary company of The Housing Finance Corporation (THFC), on its recent £198.5 million bond tap, which achieved a credit spread of 0.38% – nearly identical to the record-setting 0.37% attained in the original £208 million bond issued in May 2014.

At 3.30%, this tap represents by some distance the lowest long-term bond funding rate achieved for housing associations.

THFC and AHF are long-standing clients of Trowers & Hamlins, which also advised on the £208 million government-guaranteed bond issue in May.  That bond was the tightest-priced housing bond in the sector's history.

Piers Williamson, Chief Executive of THFC, commented:  “This AHF tap has two things going for it that help buck the trend.  It is ‘AAA’ rated because of the Government Guarantee, and the size of this tap brings the deal into most bond indices.  That means that investment funds that track the various Sterling Bond indices have to buy the transaction.  Even at these levels, the deal was two and a half times covered.

"We are grateful to Trowers & Hamlins for their legal advice and the specialist housing and housing finance knowledge they bring to the table."

The Trowers & Hamlins team advising AHF on the bond tap included Jennie Gubbins, Ian Dobinson, Naomi Roper, Sarah-Jane Harbour, and Dale Moulden.  The firm's Social Housing Finance team is ranked in tier 1 in both Chambers UK 2015 and The Legal 500 2014, the independent legal directories.