Large Yorkshire landlord secures £50m in NatWest’s first registered provider green loan

The funding has come about as part of NatWest’s new green housing retrofit pilot scheme. Social Housing understands that two other housing associations are part of the pilot, but their identities have not been revealed at this stage.

Halifax-headquartered Together is planning to install ground- and air-source heat pumps, as well as replace cladding, roofs and windows at properties across more than 30 council areas.

The group operates homes in Yorkshire, Lancashire and the north Midlands.

Mark Dunford, Together’s executive director of finance and commercial, said it was “thrilled to be the first social housing association to receive this valuable funding”.

He added: “Our carbon-reduction strategy puts residents at the forefront as we strive to make essential retrofit adaptations to properties, ensuring they remain energy efficient for the benefit of current and future residents.”

David Horne, Royal Bank of Scotland’s housing finance director, said: “Given the pilot nature of this transaction, it has taken some time to come to fruition, and is a huge step forward for both the customer and the sector as a whole.”

In March, NatWest said it planned to lend around £5bn to the UK social housing sector over the next three years.

Earlier this month, it was announced that the bank had agreed to lend Bromford £200m through a sustainability-linked loan.