The Housing Finance Corporation and the National Wealth Fund Enhance Government-backed Retrofit Funding Programme

The Housing Finance Corporation (the Group), in partnership with the National Wealth Fund (NWF), has enhanced its government-backed retrofit funding programme. The changes are designed to expand access to capital markets finance for housing associations, supporting retrofit, energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects at competitive rates.

The programme was launched in February 2025 with an initial capacity of £150m and an ambition to grow up to £250m. It combines a National Wealth Fund guarantee with The Housing Finance Corporation’s expertise in raising institutional capital for the affordable housing sector, supported by investment from Rothesay.

Since launch, the structure has been refined in direct response to client feedback: the guaranteed unsecured tranche has been shortened from 15–17 years to 5–7 years and the Liquidity Reserve Fund (LRF) requirement on the National Wealth Fund‑guaranteed loan has been removed, delivering a materially more compelling all‑in cost of funding in today’s higher‑for‑longer rate environment.

The programme blends government support with the Group’s capital markets access, to enable housing associations to invest in improving the energy efficiency of existing homes while preserving security headroom for future borrowing. It creates a scalable mission-aligned route for institutional investment to support the decarbonisation of the UK’s affordable housing sector, accelerating warmer, energy-efficient homes for tenants

Andrea Jelic, Senior Director Capital Markets, The Housing Finance Corporation, said: “As a specialist finance provider to the affordable housing sector for nearly four decades, we’ve learned that the best structures are shaped by listening and responding to housing associations evolving needs. Reflecting the feedback we’ve received from our clients, these enhancements make it easier and more cost-effective for them to access capital markets finance for retrofit and decarbonisation. Through partnerships across the public and private sectors, we’re helping housing associations access the finance they need to improve existing homes while preserving capacity for future investment.”

Stuart Nivison, Head of Portfolio Management, The National Wealth Fund, said: “We are seeing strong demand for flexible, cost-effective retrofit financing, and with the enhancements announced by THFC today, we are offering housing associations an easier route to financing their retrofit projects. It ensures the rollout of vital retrofit work can continue at pace, building on the hundreds of millions of pounds backed by the National Wealth Fund that has already been deployed, accelerating uptake and increasing the ambition of retrofit projects. That means warmer, safer and more efficient homes for thousands more residents across the UK.”

–ENDS–

About The Housing Finance Corporation

The Housing Finance Corporation has been the UK’s leading affordable housing aggregator for more than three decades, providing innovative funding solutions for over 145 housing associations across all four nations of the UK. The Housing Finance Corporation has amassed an £8.4bn loan book to date and continues to expand its range of financial products to serve the needs of the social housing sector. The Housing Finance Corporation has made significant contributions toward solving the UK’s affordable housing crisis, having funded 32,000+ homes under Affordable Housing Finance Plc (AHF), which oversaw the government’s initial Affordable Housing Guarantee Scheme. The aggregator launched Blend Funding Plc (Blend) in 2018 which has grown to provide committed facilities to 35 housing associations totalling over £1.95bn., In April 2026, The Housing Finance Corporation has expanded its capital markets offering with new funding programmes and flexible financing structures, broadening access to long-term finance for housing associations across the UK. In July 2026, Moody’s maintained Blend Funding Plc’s A2 rating and revised its outlook to positive.

For more information: https://thehousingfinancecorp.com/

About National Wealth Fund

The National Wealth Fund is charged with deploying capital at scale to drive investment into the UK’s clean energy and growth industries in support of government policy. Investments must meet its triple bottom line: helping deliver the UK’s growth and clean energy missions, generating a return for the taxpayer and crowding in private capital. The National Wealth Fund is based in Leeds and has £27.8 billion of finance to deploy. It has a team of investment professionals with expertise to invest across the capital structure, including loans, equity investments and guarantees. The National Wealth Fund also provides commercial and financial advisory services and market leading lending to local authorities across the UK. The Fund is wholly owned by HM Treasury but is operationally independent from government.