Major landlord first to access NatWest’s new £500m social loan fund

NatWest’s new social loans are available to housing associations that are existing customers and offer what the bank calls “discounted” interest margins and no arrangement fee.

Vivid, which operates across Hampshire, Surrey, Berkshire and West Sussex, said the £100m it has borrowed will help build an extra 450 social rent homes.

David Ball, chief financial officer at Vivid, said: “The overall rate discount being offered is an innovative step change that shows NatWest’s commitment to supporting the government’s social rent led agenda.”

A Vivid spokesperson declined to reveal the interest rate on the loan. 

Under the new £39bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme, the government aims to help deliver 300,000 homes, with at least 60% for social rent.

Overall, Vivid is aiming to build around 1,400 new homes a year, including for non-social rent tenures.

Paul Eyre, head of residential and housing finance at NatWest, said the bank was “delighted to continue supporting them [Vivid] in their goals of addressing a housing shortage in the South of England”.

Vivid’s latest borrowing from NatWest comes on top of a £125m loan it secured from the bank in July. The 15-year facility will help the association build around 400 homes. 

The landlord has also agreed two other loans this year, which were backed by the government’s National Wealth Fund. Vivid secured a £50m loan from Barclays in May, which will be used to retrofit around 2,000 homes, plus £50m from Lloyds in October. 

As a result of its latest loan from NatWest, Vivid now has around £2.2bn in debt, the spokesperson confirmed to Inside Housing. 

In its last full-year to the end of March 2025, the landlord reported a 15% rise in surplus to nearly £62m, despite a jump in costs. It was helped by a 14% increase in turnover to £407.5m. 

Vivid currently has G1/V1 ratings for governance and financial viability with the English regulator, but has yet to be assessed under the consumer standards.