The Living Company is about to seriously ramp up its sustainability ambitions following the conversion of a $2 billion finance facility into a sustainability linked loan (SLL).
The company, which specialises in student accommodation through Scape, rebranded as The Living Company following the acquisition of Aveo and its 65 retirement villages across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.
It now has a portfolio of about $17 billion of funds under management that includes 118 properties and more than 30,000 beds that it owns and manages.
The loan includes four key targets. This includes:
- carbon emission reduction, which includes installing solar panels across 30 retirement villages and four battery energy storage systems by 2026 and decommissioning gas infrastructure and transitioning 150 units to all electric systems by the end of 2028
- Green Star Performance v2 certification of more than 80 per cent of the retirement living portfolio between 2026 and 2028
- delivery of eight biodiversity projects over three years to achieve verified biodiversity “net gains” through restoring native habitat, and measurable improvements of ecological conditions at certain villages
- mental health first aid training targeting 10 per cent of all staff and 50 per cent of managers by 2028 to better support resident wellbeing
The Living Company already has already $2.8 billion in SSL through the Scape Core Fund and a new Sustainable Financing Framework launched in January. Total sustainable financing is now $5.7 billion and is soon expected to reach $7.3 billion.
The funding was coordinated by ANZ, ING and Westpac, with DNV providing a second-party opinion, the company said.
Head of ESG, Chris Nunn, said the loan reflects the growing maturity of sustainability practices within the retirement living sector and transforms aspirational goals into “core performance metrics, ensuring they receive the same focus and discipline as other key business priorities”.
“As the retirement living sector evolves, initiatives like this demonstrate how operators can deliver both commercial performance and meaningful environmental and social impact,” Nunn said.
Green Building Council of Australia chief executive Davina Rooney said using Green Star as an SLL is a step forward for the retirement living sector.
“It reflects the growing maturity of ESG integration in real estate finance and sends a strong signal that sustainability performance is increasingly being embedded into core business and investment decisions. It sets an important milestone for the sector.”
Niche Environment and Heritage, which developed the company’s biodiversity net gain assessment framework, said the methodology adopted would establish a precedent for the Australian real estate market.
Managing director Ian Rollins said it would demonstrate how biodiversity outcomes in urban and residential landscapes could be measured and verified by the property sector.
Sustainable financing for the company now totals $5.7 billion and is expected to soon reach $7.3 billion.