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North East landlord secures £30m retrofit loan from NatWest
A North East housing association has secured a £30m loan with NatWest to help retrofit its homes.
Teesside-based Thirteen Group said the bank’s funding would help it to reduce its carbon emissions by 100% by 2050.
As part of the deal, NatWest is providing a new Housing Green Retrofit Loan (HGRL), which the 36,000-home landlord will use to deliver a programme of retrofit works.
The bank already has a “long-term relationship” with Thirteen. This loan will take the total funding package provided by NatWest to Thirteen to £211m.
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In March 2024, NatWest pledged to provide £5bn to the UK social housing sector by the end of 2026.
The HGRL transaction with Thirteen forms part of a pilot programme through which the bank has deployed £110m of green loan funding into the affordable housing sector.
Having now completed the pilot phase, NatWest said it is currently “exploring opportunities” to scale up across the sector and support more housing providers with retrofit activities and green ambitions.
David Horne, relationship director – real estate finance at NatWest, said: “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 HGRL 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, interim chief financial officer at Thirteen, said: “This additional £30m 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.”
Thirteen increased its investment in new builds by more than 75% during 2023-24, according to its most recent accounts.
The housing association spent £133.8m on new properties last year and built a record 542 homes.
It is aiming to deliver 650 homes in 2024-25 and 1,861 over the next five years.
Thirteen reported bolstered turnover of £207.3m in 2023-24 and increased its surplus by 21% to £29m.
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