NatWest has announced a new package of £10 billion of funding to the UK social housing sector before the end of 2028 and has confirmed provision of more than £25 billion* in commercial loans and capital market support to UK social housing sector between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2025.
Notes to editors
*NatWest provided more than £25 billion in commercial loans and capital market support to UK social housing sector between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2025 based on cumulative lending and finance provided to housing associations from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2025, as extracted from NatWest Group’s internal systems. No reliance has been placed on externally available housing regulatory data. The processes used to define, collect and report data on our social funding, financing and facilitation activities are not subject to the same formal controls and often involve manual steps and less robust governance, which may affect data quality and consistency. Readers are therefore advised to interpret this announcement with appropriate caution. Social funding, financing and facilitation represent only a relatively small proportion of our overall funding, financing and facilitation activities.
This press release is for media use only and is not a financial promotion.
The £10bn lending ambition is limited to regulated social housing sector not-for-profit registered housing associations operating in the UK and:
· applies from 1 January 2026 until 31 December 2028;
· includes new funding gross of repayments and amortisations by way of commercial loans and capital market support;
· product fees may apply; subject to credit approval and documentation; and
· security may be required.
About NatWest Group
NatWest Group is a UK-focused banking organisation, serving over 20 million customers, with business operations stretching across retail, commercial and private banking markets.
Caution about Forward-looking Statements in this announcement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are not historical facts, including, but not limited to, NatWest Group’s ambition to provide £10 billion in targeted lending and support to the UK social housing sector between 1 January 2026 and end 2028. The forward-looking statements of this announcement are based on current plans, information, and data. In preparing these, NatWest Group has made a number of key judgments, estimates, assumptions, and projections, and relied on information subject to those inherent uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that a number of factors, both external and those specific to NatWest Group, could cause actual achievements, results, performance or other future events or conditions to differ, in some cases significantly, from those stated, implied and/or reflected in any forward-looking statement in this announcement or result in revisions to the reported data. Therefore, no assurance can be given by or on behalf of NatWest Group as to the likelihood of the achievement or reasonableness of any aim, ambitions, estimates, plans, projections, targets, or other forward-looking statement contained herein.
Therefore, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements.
This cautionary statement should not be regarded as a complete and comprehensive statement and should be read together with the ‘Risk Factors’ included on pages 408 to 426 of NatWest Group plc 2024 Annual Report and Accounts, as updated from time to time.
Caution on sustainability-related metrics
The processes we have adopted to define, collect and report data on our sustainability-related performance, as well as the associated metrics, are not subject to the formal processes adopted for financial reporting in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) and it continues to involve manual processes. They involve a higher degree of judgement, assumptions and estimates, including in relation to the classification of sustainability-related (including social) funding and financing activities, than is required for our reporting of historical financial information prepared in accordance with IFRS. As a result, sustainability-related metrics may be amended, updated or restated over time.
Caution about sustainability-related financing
Sustainability-related (including social) financing and facilitation currently represents only a relatively small proportion of NatWest Group’s overall financing and facilitation activities. Accordingly, information relating to sustainability-related financing and facilitation should be read in the context of NatWest Group’s broader balance sheet, risk profile and financing and facilitation activities, and should not be interpreted as indicative of NatWest Group’s overall financing or facilitation strategy.
The information contained in our press releases is intended solely for journalists and media and should not be used by consumers to make financial decisions. Terms and conditions apply to any products or services mentioned in our press releases.
