Thirteen Chief Executive Pay Rises to £228,197 as Board Payments Jump 29%...
Thirteen Chief Executive Gets Pay Rise as Tenants Face Higher Rents...
7th October 2026
The chief executive of one of the North East’s largest Tax Dodging social landlords saw his remuneration rise to more than £228,000 last year, while payments to the landlords non-executive board members increased by almost 30%, newly published accounts reveal.
Thirteen Housing Group’s annual report and financial statements for the year ending March 2026 show that Chief Executive Matt Forrest remained the organisation’s highest-paid director.
His remuneration, excluding pension contributions, increased from £221,550 in 2024/25 to £228,197 in 2025/26 — a rise of £6,647, or around 3%.
The increase comes as Thirteen, which owns and manages more than 36,000 properties across the North East, Yorkshire and Humber, recorded turnover of £234.9 million and a £38.8 million overall surplus during the year yet failed to pay a single penny in UK corporation tax as calls grow for the firms so called ‘charitable status’ to be stripped.
Board payments rise sharply
The accounts also reveal a considerably larger percentage rise in payments made to Thirteen’s non-executive directors on the back of crippling rent increases to its tenants, where total remuneration for Thirteen’s non-executive board members increased from around £113,000 in 2024/25 to £146,000 during 2025/26, representing an increase of approximately £33,000 — or 29% in a single year.
Individual payments disclosed in the accounts include £26,000 to group chair Jane Earl, while a number of other directors received payments ranging between £6,000 and £14,000, all whilst some of the areas most troublesome estates managed by the Teesside Landlord have no operational housing estates manager for concerned residents to call upon.
Thirteen attempted to justify the payments, claiming its board is responsible for overseeing the group’s strategy, finances, risk management and governance, with five committees dealing with areas including remuneration, audit and risk, finance, development and customer services.
‘Bloated’ firms Overall staffing bill reaches £75m….
The increases sit against a wider rise in Thirteen’s staffing costs, where Employee expenditure reportedly increased from £70.8 million to £75.2 million, an increase of around £4.4 million during the year. That included £61.2 million in wages and salaries, £7.9 million in social-security costs and £5.7 million in pension costs. Thirteen also claims to have spent £432,000 on restructuring, compared with £314,000 the year before.
The organisation employed an average of 1,565 full-time-equivalent workers during the year, compared with 1,547 previously, with its accounts revealing that 141 employees received remuneration worth more than £60,000, compared with 136 the previous year.
Figures emerge alongside rent increases…
The figures are likely to attract attention because they emerge during a period in which tenants have continued to face eyewatering rent increases and crippling household costs.
Thirteen’s social-housing rent income increased substantially during 2025/26, with rent receivable excluding identifiable service charges rising from £188.7 million to £197.9 million.
The landlord says the increase in social-housing turnover was predominantly driven by the 2.7% regulated rent increase introduced in April 2025, together with an increase in the number of homes available to rent.
Social-housing lettings produced an operating surplus of £51.3 million, compared with £45.9 million the previous year.
Thirteen stresses that, as a so called ‘registered social-housing provider’, surpluses are reinvested in homes and services rather than distributed to shareholders although this is heavily disputed. .
Millions being invested in homes
Despite the controversy over the firms accounting practices, the accounts also show investment in housing during the year, with Thirteen spending £126.4 million maintaining and improving existing properties, up from £114.1 million the previous year, while a further £125 million was invested in new homes.
Nevertheless, the scale of executive and board remuneration is likely to be scrutinised at a time when the landlord itself acknowledges that many of its customers continue to face financial hardship & questions over its Tax Affairs deepen…
Thirteen’s annual report states that the high cost of everyday essentials continues to place pressure on household budgets, particularly among customers already struggling financially.
However, while its seems Thirteen is investing record sums in housing and reporting a strong financial position, the cost of running the organisation — including senior remuneration — is also continuing to rise raising questions as to whether its surplus isnt being funneled into the pockets of its seemingly ‘bloated’ management.
