Thirteen Housing CEO Bags £11k Pay Rise, as Tenants Face Rent Hikes & Shoddy Repairs...
- teessidetoday
- Oct 9
- 3 min read
The Teesside Based Housing Providers facing criticism over its decision to award its CEO a wallet busting £11k pay rise, as tenants struggle with increasing rents.
9th October 2025
As thousands of tenants across Teesside brace for yet another round of rent hikes in April 2026, Thirteen Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Matt Forrest, has quietly pocketed a pay rise of £11,000, taking his total annual salary to a staggering £221,000 — not including pension contributions.
The revelation has sparked outrage among tenants and housing campaigners, who point to the ever widening gulf between executive pay and the financial pressure faced by ordinary residents struggling to cope with the cost-of-living crisis.
Meanwhile, Thirteen Group — which owns and manages around 36,000 homes across the North East, Yorkshire and Humber regions — has once again paid zero corporation tax on its growing surpluses. The organisation continues to rely on its so called “charitable status” to avoid tax liabilities, despite reporting healthy profits and executive pay packets that many say are entirely out of touch with any legitimate social housing mission.
Rising Surpluses, Rising Rents
According to the latest financial results for the year ending 31 March 2025, Thirteen’s turnover increased to £230.4 million, up from £207.3 million the previous year.Its operating surplus rose from £44.9 million to £47.1 million, while net surplus climbed 17.6% to £34.1 million.
Interest cover also improved from 140.3% to 159.4%, suggesting a company in a strong financial position, At the same time, tenants have been hit with above-inflation rent increases, with many questioning why a supposedly “charitable” housing provider is behaving more like a large corporate property developer.
Millions Being Invested – But Tenants Asking: Where’s the Value?
Thirteen claims it invested £114.1 million in maintaining and improving existing homes and £135.6 million in new developments. It delivered 650 new homes over the year — a modest rise from 542 the previous year.
Chief Resources Officer Jane Castor described the results as “a really strong start” under the group’s new business strategy, saying the organisation was proud of its increased investment and financial resilience.
But for many tenants, those words ring hollow. Complaints about poor repairs, lengthy delays, and substandard housing conditions continue to mount. Critics argue that the focus on expanding property portfolios and executive salaries is coming at the expense of delivering genuine affordability and quality of service.
A ‘Charity’ in Name Only?
What angers many residents most is Thirteen’s continued failure to contribute a penny in corporation tax, despite consistently recording multi-million-pound surpluses. While the company defends its tax-exempt status as a charitable housing provider, critics say this model allows it to act like a private landlord while enjoying public subsidies and tax breaks.
“Thirteen is behaving like a profit-driven private corporation, not a charity,” one Teesside tenant told The Teesside & Durham Post. “They’re hiking our rents while their bosses are getting richer. It’s disgraceful.”
Forrest’s £221,000 pay packet is now under significant public scrutiny, particularly as Thirteen continues to benefit from public funding, government grants, and access to cheap borrowing via its financers NatWest through its social housing status.
Critics say the optics are hugely hard to ignore: an £11,000 salary increase for the man at the top, while ordinary families face rising rents, stagnating wages, and deteriorating living standards.
As one housing campaigner put it:
“When a housing association’s CEO earns more than the Prime Minister while paying no tax on multi-million-pound surpluses, something has gone badly wrong with the system.”
