- Funding will be used to support retrofitting of existing properties
- Thirteen Group employs more than 1,500 people and is one of the largest housing associations in the North of England.
Social housing provider Thirteen Group has agreed to a £30million funding deal with NatWest to support a major retrofit project across its property portfolio.
The funding includes 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 Thirteen’s main strategic funding partners, providing a total funding package of £211million to help Thirteen achieve key strategic priorities.
Thirteen will use the HGRL funding from NatWest to deliver a programme of retrofit works. The project will help Thirteen deliver its wider commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 100 per cent by 2050, in line with government targets.
Earlier this year, NatWest announced its ambition to provide £5bn in funding to support the social housing sector by the end of 2026. It is hoped the funding will facilitate the delivery of a pipeline of social housing projects which are vital to local communities. NatWest is one of the largest lenders to the social housing sector in the UK.
This HGRL transaction forms part of an ambitious pilot programme in which NatWest has deployed £110million of green loan funding into the affordable housing sector. Having now completed the pilot phase, NatWest is currently exploring opportunities to establish how these pilots can be scaled up more widely across UK’s affordable housing sector, and support even more housing providers with their retrofitting activities and wider green ambitions.
David Horne, Relationship Director 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 of our Housing Green Retrofit Loan roll-out and, hopefully, this investment will help continue to provide their tenant base with affordable homes that are sustainable in the long-term.”
Andrew McColl, Thirteen’s 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 Thirteen, 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.”
Thirteen owns and manages more than 36,000 properties across the North East, Yorkshire and Humber regions and provides homes and services for around 100,000 customers.
Employing more than 1,500 people, Thirteen is dedicated to helping communities grow and prosper. Thirteen is embedding an affordable homes programme as a Homes England Strategic Partner. In 2023/24 the housing association invested almost £250million in new and existing homes and is on target to build 650 new homes this year. Over the next five years, Thirteen plans to build more than 1,800 new homes.
