North East Housing Association Secures £30m Retrofit Loan
Thirteen Group, a Teesside-based housing association, have secured a £30million bank loan from NatWest which will be used to deliver a retrofit programme.
As part of the funding deal, NatWest have included a new to market Housing Green Retrofit Loan (HGRL) which forms part of a larger transaction through which NatWest will continue to be one of the main strategic funding partners for Thirteen Group.
NatWest have worked with Thirteen for a long time, with this loan taking the total funding package provided to £211m.
Thirteen Group Housing Association
Thirteen Group are a 35,000 homes housing association who reportedly increased their investments into new builds by more than 75% during 2023-24 – according to Inside Housing.
On their website, the group stated:
We will use the HGRL funding from NatWest to deliver a programme of retrofit works. The project will help us deliver our wider commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 100 per cent by 2050, in line with government targets.
Reported by Inside Housing, the association spent £133.8m on new properties in 2024 and built a record 542 homes. It’s aim is to deliver 650 homes in 2024-2025 and 1,861 over the next five years.
David Horne, Relationship Director of Real Estate Finance at NatWest, said:
We have had a long-term relationship with Thirteen, who are committed to building and maintaining high quality sustainable housing across the communities they operate in. This funding will enable the group to move forward with works to support what is a significant upcoming investment to help transition their existing properties towards net-zero.
It has been great to work with a forward-thinking organisation like Thirteen in order to successfully complete the pilot phase or our Housing Green Retrofit Loan roll-out, and hopefully, this will help continue to provide their tenant base with affordable homes that are sustainable in the long-term.
Andrew McColl, our Interim Chief Finance Officer, added:
“This additional £30million funding will enable us to accelerate our retrofit programme, benefiting thousands of customers by making their homes more energy efficient.
“It’s a landmark deal for us, and one which reflects our reputation as a trusted housing association with a proven track record of investment in our homes and a clear commitment to achieving net zero.
“We look forward to continuing our excellent relationship with NatWest as we deliver these improvements for our customers.”
Decarbonising the social housing sector
Last year, NatWest Group announced a £5bn lending plan which was designed to provide support for the UK social housing sector during a time of economic pressure, and help to decarbonise the social housing sector.
Through a new ambition of £5billion of lending (New funding gross of repayments and amortisations) over three years from 1 January 2024 to year-end 2026, the bank is aiming to support the delivery and maintenance of social housing in the UK, which is vital to the people and families who rely on affordable housing, as well as the wider economy.
The bank’s mission for the lending was to “help the housing associations sector to deliver a pipeline of new homes and improve living conditions in existing properties, thus improving the availability and quality of social housing in the UK.”
