The European Investment Bank, the European Union's long-term lending institution is to lend £44 million for UK social housing and urban environmental improvements. The finance goes to the Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (THFC), London, for on-lending to seven Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) carrying out housing and urban regeneration programmes in Birmingham, Coventry, Durham, London and Manchester. The loan contract was signed by EIB President, Sir Brian Unwin and THFC Chairman, George Dennis in London today.

Sir Brian Unwin said: "This is the first major housing and urban development loan we have made in the United Kingdom under our new Amsterdam Special Action Programme (ASAP). It is directed at urban regeneration schemes designed to meet social, economic and environment needs in deprived urban areas. These will benefit both local residents and businesses and help attract investment into areas of high unemployment, a key EU priority. Our ASAP programme was set up in response to a request from the Amsterdam EU Summit last year calling for further support for investment helping job creation and I am very pleased that within the first year of its operation we have been able to support this important project in the UK".

THFC and its wholly owned subsidiary THFC (Social Housing Finance) Ltd, will on-lend the finance to the RSLs for a variety of new or replacement social housing, as well as "foyer" buildings for the shelter and training of jobless young people and for the construction of "live-work" units to help start-up businesses establish themselves. THFC is one of the main channels of funding for the UK social housing sector and has raised £1.1 billion on its behalf. Under its ASAP scheme the EIB may finance housing investment integrated in well-defined urban renewal and development schemes.

RSLs benefiting include: the Focus Housing Association (HA) in Birmingham and Coventry; Mercian HA in Birmingham; Three Rivers HA, Durham; East Thames Housing Group, Tower Hamlets, and Samuel Lewis Housing Trust, Hackney, London; and Family Manchester HA and Mosscare HA in Manchester. All the schemes are located in regional development areas (objective 2). The principle task of the EIB is to support economic activity in the EU's located in such regions.

The European Investment Bank, the European Union's long-term lending institution, finances capital investment furthering EU integration, in particular: regional development; trans-European networks in transport, telecoms and energy; industrial competitiveness and integration; SMEs; environmental protection; and energy security. It also operates outside the EU within the framework of the EU's co-operation external policy. Owned by the Member States, the EIB raises its funds on capital markets (AAA issuer). Sir Brian Unwin is the first British President of the institution and assumed office in 1993. In 1997, the EIB lent over ECU 26 billion, of which some £3 billion in the UK, and borrowed ECU 23 billion on capital markets.THFC Ltd is a not for profit intermediary established in 1987 to facilitate the social housing sector's access to the capital markets. It has to date raised over £1.1 billion for 130 borrowers through a wide variety of bank loans, private placements and public debenture stocks.The EIB's Amsterdam programme - ASAP - was set up following the European Council's resolution on growth and employment at Amsterdam in June 1997 that called on the EIB to step up lending for investment to help job-creation. The ASAP includes a special window to provide risk capital for high-growth SMEs; new lending for education, health and urban renewal; and expansion of financing for trans-European networks and other major infrastructure schemes.

The conversion rates used by the EIB for statistical purposes during the current quarter are those obtaining on 30/9/1998, when ECU 1 = 0.69 GBP, 6.58 FRF, 1.17159 USD, 0.79 IEP.