Rothesay funds £150m facility for social housing retrofits
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The National Wealth Fund and the Housing Finance Corporation have launched a £150m facility making unsecured loans to registered providers to help them retrofit social housing. The funding for the new facility is provided by pension insurer Rothesay.
The organisations said the loans come at “pricing usually reserved for secured lending” and will help reduce the energy consumption and emissions of social housing. NWF and THFC hope to grow the scheme to £250m over the next six months, depending on take-up.
“The National Wealth Fund is mobilising billions of pounds of investment in our world-leading industries, creating jobs and kickstarting economic growth,” said chancellor Rachel Reeves.
NWF chief executive John Flint noted that the launch of the facility will increase the ambition of retrofitting projects and give confidence to the sector and its supply chains.
To fully decarbonise housing association properties is estimated to cost almost £36bn. Currently, about a third (34%) of socially rented homes in England alone have an Energy Performance Certificate rating below C, while social housing represents nearly 15% of homes in fuel poverty in the UK.
The organisations said the loans come at “pricing usually reserved for secured lending” and will help reduce the energy consumption and emissions of social housing. NWF and THFC hope to grow the scheme to £250m over the next six months, depending on take-up.
“The National Wealth Fund is mobilising billions of pounds of investment in our world-leading industries, creating jobs and kickstarting economic growth,” said chancellor Rachel Reeves.
NWF chief executive John Flint noted that the launch of the facility will increase the ambition of retrofitting projects and give confidence to the sector and its supply chains.
To fully decarbonise housing association properties is estimated to cost almost £36bn. Currently, about a third (34%) of socially rented homes in England alone have an Energy Performance Certificate rating below C, while social housing represents nearly 15% of homes in fuel poverty in the UK.
Rothesay’s chief executive Tom Pearce said: “Innovative partnerships like these have the potential to unlock significant volumes of institutional capital and we are committed to continuing to work with the NWF and THFC to support the growth of the facility along with other future initiatives.”
Rothesay is tipped to have the biggest market share in the bulk annuity space at 35% in the year to June 2024, according to a recent report by consultants Hymans Robertson. The firm, which focusses on large deals, is rumoured to have completed two buy-ins for the NatWest Group Pension Fund of a combined £11bn. In March 2024, it announced it had bought the £6bn bulk annuity portfolio of Scottish Widows.
Rothesay is tipped to have the biggest market share in the bulk annuity space at 35% in the year to June 2024, according to a recent report by consultants Hymans Robertson. The firm, which focusses on large deals, is rumoured to have completed two buy-ins for the NatWest Group Pension Fund of a combined £11bn. In March 2024, it announced it had bought the £6bn bulk annuity portfolio of Scottish Widows.
