Tag: NatWest Group

Royal Bank of Scotland sets £10 billion funding ambition for social housing

  • The Royal Bank of Scotland has announced, through its parent NatWest Group, that it has provided more than £25 billion* in commercial loans and capital market support to the UK social housing sector between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2025.  
  • Bank has delivered on its social housing lending ambition of £7.5 billion from 2024 to 2026 a year early, which includes lending to Kingdom Housing Association in Fife last year. 

The Royal Bank of Scotland has today announced an updated package of £10 billion of funding to the UK social housing sector before the end of 2028, which when deployed will bring the total funding to social housing in the UK to over £35 billion* since 2018.  

Through this new ambition, the bank is aiming to support the delivery and maintenance of social housing in the UK, which is vital to the people and families who rely on affordable housing, as well as the wider economy. The Royal Bank of Scotland has worked with not-for-profit housing associations across Scotland to support their growth and development plans building homes and communities for many years. 

The bank also confirmed it has now provided more than £25 billion* of funding into the social housing sector since 2018, helping to create and sustain affordable homes nationwide.

The Royal Bank of Scotland aims to support the delivery and upkeep of social housing across the UK, helping housing associations build new homes, upgrade existing properties, and improve living conditions. Some of this lending can help fund energy efficiency and environmental improvements, including retrofit projects. Other funding can help the housing associations sector to deliver a pipeline of new homes and improve living conditions in existing properties. 

Paul Thwaite, CEO NatWest Group comments: “We are incredibly proud to announce the early achievement of our £7.5 billion UK social housing lending ambition.

“Delivering this milestone a full year ahead of scheduled demonstrates our commitment to making a real difference in people’s lives by investing in the homes and communities that need it most, and shows the demand in the market.  

“Reaching this lending ambition early has enabled us to set a new target of £10 billion to year-end 2028, so we can continue to provide social housing lending and play our part in supporting the development and availability of affordable and social rent homes across the UK.”  

The announcement forms part of the bank’s new five point Growing Together plan, setting out how the bank will help build the conditions for UK wide growth: backing powerful regions, championing mid-market companies, strengthening the country’s infrastructure and housing foundations, boosting financial confidence amongst families and young people, and supporting the innovators shaping the future economy.

Drawing on its regional footprint, expertise and convening power, the bank aims to bring businesses, communities, and policymakers together to tackle structural barriers, unlock productivity and spread opportunity across the UK.

In addition to these commitments, last year the Royal Bank of Scotland announced several other initiatives and partnerships that have complemented and contributed to our social housing lending ambition being achieved. These include a financial guarantee of up to £400 million from the National Wealth Fund to cover a series of new loans from Royal Bank of Scotland to registered providers of social housing stock in the UK.  

The bank also launched a new social rent loan product to support housing associations, which are already Royal Bank of Scotland customers, to support the construction of social rent houses across the UK. In December 2025, this fund was doubled to £1 billion in response to strong demand and to help continue the delivery of homes for social rent across the country. 

These initiatives complement Royal Bank of Scotland’s ongoing dedication to supporting communities and helping to address the housing crisis. 

In December, the Royal Bank of Scotland announced £20 million in additional lending to Kingdom Housing Association (KHA) headquartered in Fife.

KHA are one of Scotland’s largest registered social landlords and manage over 7,000 homes, providing a wide range of housing, care and support services. The funding will help deliver 170 new energy efficient homes in Fife and Perth and Kinross and builds on existing lending to KHA from the bank which now totals £61 million.

Royal Bank of Scotland formally hands over New Town site for Edinburgh’s new concert hall

  • Royal Bank of Scotland transfers the ground behind Dundas House in the final step before work begins on site
  • City’s first new concert hall in over 100 years will complete James Craig’s plans for Edinburgh’s iconic New Town

IMPACT Scotland and Royal Bank of Scotland today marked the transfer of the land behind the Royal Bank of Scotland’s iconic Dundas House, clearing the final step to allow work to begin preparing the New Town site for the construction of Dunard Centre which will begin later in 2023. 

The music venue, which was given the green light by Edinburgh’s planning authorities in November 2021 is set transform the city’s cultural offering with the construction of its first purpose built concert hall in over 100 years.

Alison Rose, Chief Executive of the NatWest Group, of which the Royal Bank of Scotland is part, visited the site with Gavin Reid, Co-Chair of IMPACT Scotland and Chief Executive of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, to mark the moment the site was handed over.

Alison Rose said: “Edinburgh is a global capital and world stage for international arts, culture and music. The Dunard Centre will provide further space to continue that tradition and offer further opportunity for more musicians and artists to develop and create.

“This project is a great example of what can be achieved with close collaboration across the city’s public and private sectors.  Royal Bank of Scotland is delighted to play a part in helping bring this project to life.”

Gavin Reid said: “Together, we are building a bold and brilliant venue which is an expression of faith in our city, our country and our future. The Dunard Centre will be a place where musicians and audiences come together to create and share extraordinary experiences.

“Through this final design stage we are enjoying the challenge of ensuring excellence in every surface, corridor, seat and handrail. Every detail of the building will be finely tuned to make sure that concert going is an inspirational and exhilarating experience.”

RBS as per order of itinerary , Copyright photo Paul Chappells

A specialist team led by award winning David Chipperfield Architects and Nagata Acoustics has designed the Dunard Centre to rival any in the world for design, intimacy and clarity of sound. 

With seating for 1000 people, the venue will be a transformational new home for Scottish Chamber Orchestra, an iconic new venue for Edinburgh International Festival and a gift to music lovers and performers of all genres. 

It is expected that all clearance work will complete later in 2023 and that work will begin on the new concert hall soon after.   

Dunard Centre is being funded through substantial philanthropic donations, including the visionary support of Dunard Fund, and underpinned by £25 million support from the Scottish and UK governments and the City of Edinburgh Council, as part of the City Region Deal. 

Royal Bank of Scotland is supporting the project by providing a long-term lease for the land which sits directly behind Dundas House on St Andrew Square.  A campaign is well underway to secure the remaining funds required before construction begins later in 2023.

PICTURES: Paul Chappells

Government stake in NatWest Group reduced to below 50% for first time since financial crisis

For the first time since the financial crisis, NatWest Group plc (formerly Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc) is no longer under majority public ownership following a £1.2 billion sale of part of the government’s shareholding back to NatWest.

This is the government’s fifth sale of its NatWest shareholding bringing its level of ownership down from 50.6% to 48.1%. This is a landmark in the government’s plan to return to private ownership the institutions brought into public ownership as a result of the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury authorised the sale of approximately 550 million shares in NatWest at 220.5p per share raising a total of £1.2 billion. The shares were bought back by NatWest and the process was managed by UK Government Investments.

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen said: “This sale means that the government is no longer the majority owner of NatWest Group and is therefore an important landmark in our plan to return the bank to the private sector.

“We will continue to prioritise delivering value for money for the taxpayer as we take forward this plan.”

NatWest chief Alison Rose said the share buyback is an “important milestone” for the bank.

Ms. Rose said: “The deal is a good use of capital for the bank and our shareholders. Reducing government ownership below 50% is an important milestone for NatWest Group and a further demonstration of the progress we are making as we continue to deliver for our customers and shareholders.”

Partnership helps communities cope with financial difficulties amid cost-of-living crisis

  • Royal Bank of Scotland and Citizens Advice Edinburgh are working together to provide debt support and advice to customers locally and across the UK, with over 2,100 referrals since October 2020.
  • Edinburgh based advisers assist in instances where Royal Bank believes that Citizens Advice could offer support that addresses a root cause of financial vulnerability.
  • Previous Citizens Advice research found that 1 in 10 families – about 3 million UK households – faced a cost-of-living crisis, unable to cover even basic bills such as food and heating.

Royal Bank of Scotland is today announcing the launch of a report in partnership with Citizens Advice, focusing on support for vulnerable customers. There have been over 2,100 referrals from NatWest and Royal Bank to Citizens Advice since the programme started in October 2020.

Citizen Advice advisers based in Edinburgh have supported teams from across Royal Bank by providing a referral service for customers who contact the bank and express difficulty with debt, benefits, relationships and family.

The advisers assist in instances where Royal Bank believes that Citizens Advice could offer support that addresses a root cause of financial vulnerability.

The project has successfully helped customers across Scotland with complex financial issues and continues until September 2022, by which time NatWest and Royal Bank expect to have helped over 4,000 people with complex financial advice needs. This service is available across NatWest, Royal Bank and Ulster Bank.

The latest report details the impact of the pilot one year on. It found that:

  • There have been over 2,100 referrals from NatWest and Royal Bank to Citizens Advice since the programme started in October 2020 with the numbers increasing month on month.
  • Over half (59%) of the referrals were from customers who had not accessed Citizens Advice before
  • 86% of customers were over 35, compared to the Citizens Advice overall base of 73%
  • The top three problems leading to referral are debt (62%), benefits (32%) and relationships (18%)

The report is released as millions of people face up to rising household costs. Previous Citizens Advice research has revealed:

·                     1 in 10 UK families – about 3 million households – were facing a cost-of-living crunch this winter, unable to cover even basic bills such as food and heating.

·                     1 in 5 of all adults are cutting back on food shopping or turning off the heating, while 1 in 10 anticipate needing to use food banks.

Benjamin Napier, Chief Executive Officer at Citizens Advice Edinburgh said: “We are committed to giving people the knowledge and confidence they need to find their way forward – whoever they are, and whatever they need.

“Together with Royal Bank of Scotland we have been able to help people in the most vulnerable situations in our society across Scotland. The programme is an important way for us to reach more people who may need our help and might not have known about our services.”

David Lindberg, CEO, Retail Banking at NatWest Group said: “Through our partnership with Citizens Advice, we want to deliver personalised support to our most vulnerable customers. Many people who come to us for support have complex financial issues which impact their lives.

“In this current economic environment, it’s more important now than ever to be able to intervene when customers experience early signs of financial difficulty and help them to improve their financial capability.’’

Stephen Timms MP said: “It’s important that people have organisations they can turn to for support when experiencing financial difficulty.

“As we continue to recover from the pandemic and changes to the cost-of-living cause people to experience complex problems they may not have experienced before, it is encouraging that organisations such as NatWest Group and Citizens Advice are working together to meet the wider advice and support needs of vulnerable customers.”

You can access the full report here: Strengthening the safety net: supporting NatWest Group’s most vulnerable customers

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