Lloyds Banking Group and housing association, Peabody have announced a £60 million loan to fund the sustainable retrofit of thousands of social homes across London and the Southeast – the largest issued under the £1.3 billion National Wealth Fund’s (NWF) social housing guarantee scheme.
The deal, the largest to date under the government-backed financial initiative, aims to improve the energy efficiency of homes, providing greener, warmer living spaces for social tenants.
It will enable Peabody, which manages more than 108,000 homes across London and the Home Counties, to implement a range of energy-saving upgrades, including wall and loft insulation, heat pumps, solar panels, and water-saving technologies.
The upgrades align with the UK’s broader goals for net-zero emissions.
Phil Day, chief financial officer at Peabody, highlighted the importance of the funding in line with its new group strategy.
“This additional funding is very welcome and will help us improve the energy efficiency of more residents’ homes, making them easier to keep warm and helping us meet our net zero targets,” he said.
Over the past five years, Lloyds Banking Group has provided more than £20 billion in new funding to the social housing sector through partnerships with more than 300 housing associations.
It follows the announcement late last year of a £1 billion fund with Lloyds and Barclays UK Corporate Bank each investing £500 million in the retrofit market, enabled by a financial guarantee of up to £750 million provided by the NWF.
Stuart Nivison, head of portfolio management at the National Wealth Fund, added: “The scale of the retrofit challenge facing the social housing sector is clear, and by working in partnership with Lloyds we can help registered providers like Peabody access the financing they need to accelerate the delivery of warmer, greener homes for their tenants.”
The announcement comes as Lloyds’ CEO, Charlie Nunn hosted The Social Housing Forum, focusing on accelerating the retrofit of the country’s housing stock and modernising social housing to meet environmental goals.
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