Phil Hooper takes over RBS’s property finance team

Phil Hooper has been appointed as head of real estate finance at Royal Bank of Scotland, replacing Paul Coates, who recently left the UK bank to lead CBRE’s structured finance division for EMEA.

Since 2014, Hooper has led UK housing real estate finance at RBS, which includes NatWest. He has more than 30 years of banking experience and spent the past 12 years working in the bank’s commercial property team.

In his new role, Hooper will be head of real estate finance for Royal Bank of Scotland as well as its subsidiary bank NatWest.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to lead one of the best UK franchises in the real estate sector. We have fantastic people in place that are focused on understanding our customers’ strategies and providing a consistent approach to the market,” Hooper said.

At the end of June 2017, RBS’s commercial real estate loan book stood at just under £26 billion (€29.5 million) across the UK, Ireland and Western Europe, with around £24 billion committed to the UK. In 2017, it originated around £7 billion in new funding to the UK market.

The bank has a team of approximately 300 real estate specialists, with customers ranging from SME housebuilders through to large REITs with commitments ranging from £50,000 to £500 million.

In January, NatWest acted as lead arranger and co-ordinator for a £108.9 million development facility, along with Lloyds Bank Commercial Real Estate and Greater Manchester Housing Fund, to finance the development of Select’s £247 million Affinity Living project, which consists of 683 apartments at Circle Square in Manchester.

Last November, RBS wrote, along with HSBC, a £500 million unsecured loan facility to student accommodation provider Unite which will support its growth strategy.