13 partners, 18 months, one mission: our consortium-led Transform-ER project aims to enable one million home upgrades every year by 2030. This blog series tells the stories of our tactical team of partners and the retrofit barriers they are addressing – so let us introduce Tallarna, our ‘finance facilitator’.
Last year, we began our Meet the Transform-ERs series, showcasing our team of partners working to revolutionise retrofit.
In our latest instalment, we’re catching up with Tim Meanock, CEO and co-founder of Tallarna, about how it’s helping social housing landlords access large-scale, flexible finance. We discussed the need for standardised solutions and how the industry can avoid reinventing the wheel to deliver meaningful environmental, social, and economic impact for all.
Tallarna is a climate tech and finance platform for sustainable impact. We founded the company to provide a scalable mechanism to finance the energy transition. We saw an urgent need for a solution that translates landlords’ technical engineering initiatives into viable financial opportunities for funders.
These not only financially benefit residents and landlords from day one but help accelerate and incentivise the transition to net zero.
That’s where our Energy-as-a-Service product comes in. We use our data analytics software, proprietary insurance, and financing expertise to capture the value of clean energy technologies, create attractive business cases, and turn decarbonisation into funded, insured subscription offerings.
These not only financially benefit residents and landlords from day one but help accelerate and incentivise the transition to net zero.
Transform-ER is all about creating a standardised, scalable approach to retrofit that reduces risk for housing providers, residents, and suppliers. This ambition - coupled with the right people behind it - aligns with Tallarna’s perspective on how the retrofit industry must evolve.
Currently, decarbonisation at scale is being held back by a stop-start cycle of sporadic government funding, leading to price inflation and rushed projects. We believe there is a better way.
Currently, decarbonisation at scale is being held back by a stop-start cycle of sporadic government funding, leading to price inflation and rushed projects. We believe there is a better way. One that delivers a more stable, systematic route to access private finance and ensure consistent, high-quality, and large-scale delivery. Clearly, Energiesprong UK, Ambue and the rest of the consortium share this vision, which is why they brought us into Transform-ER!
Transform-ER’s forward-thinking approach of looking beyond short-term challenges and building a long-term, end-to-end mechanism for action really resonated with us. We saw an opportunity to contribute unique value to this initiative by bringing our financing expertise. Tallarna is helping bridge the gap between landlords who need finance - both on- and off-balance sheet - and our panel of institutional funders who need long-term, de-risked projects.
There needs to be a democratisation of knowledge between landlords and private funders. As Jenny Danson from Healthy Homes Hub aptly puts it: “There’s no grant fairy to fill the finance gap; private finance is a must.” Achieving this requires deeper levels of cross-sector collaboration and education.
There is no grant fairy to fill the finance gap; private finance is a must. Jenny Danson, Healthy Homes Hub
Landlords need to fully understand and become comfortable with all the different types of funding mechanisms available, what this translates to in terms of legal agreements and structures, an appreciation of their risk profiles, and how they interact with existing debt. For projects to succeed and to provide landlords with the long-term, de-risked, and flexible finance they need, funders must be an active part of this conversation and help shape initiatives.
Unlocking a steady stream of finance demands a structured, transparent, and risk-managed approach to projects; one that gives funders, landlords, and residents confidence in high-quality outcomes. At the same time, visibility of a project pipeline is essential to scaling the supply chain - whether that’s suppliers of capital, products, or services.
Unlocking a steady stream of finance demands a structured, transparent, and risk-managed approach to projects; one that gives funders, landlords, and residents confidence in high-quality outcomes.
Transform-ER is doing just that by creating an end-to-end delivery mechanism that standardises and aggregates retrofits. Tallarna’s role in achieving this is two-fold: firstly, by using a software-led approach to facilitate on- and off-balance sheet finance, and secondly, by structuring the delivery vehicle to attract funders and support multi-landlord initiatives. This is being done in collaboration with all project partners – including several landlords - to ensure Transform-ER’s end solution meets diverse stakeholders’ needs.
Transform-ER has reaffirmed the importance of cross-business collaboration for me. This initiative has productively brought together multiple skillsets, products, and services to tackle every aspect of retrofit. It’s showcased that not only is there room for everyone at the table but that without everyone, success will not happen.
[Transform-ER's offering] gives landlords the freedom to rely on a tried-and-tested approach rather than reinventing the wheel each time. That's a crucial solution for the sector.
Innovate UK funding has allowed the 13 partners time to develop a robust and scalable delivery mechanism focused on quality and long-term partnerships. The retrofit industry often struggles with fragmented, project-by-project thinking. In contrast, Transform-ER has brought together and augmented already proven solutions - creating an end-to-end, standardised offering.
While each landlord and region will have unique needs, Transform-ER provides a transparent, well-structured system that puts risk, quality, and efficiency at its heart. This gives landlords the freedom to rely on a tried-and-tested approach rather than reinventing the wheel each time. That’s a crucial solution for the sector.
Time is running out to meet decarbonisation targets and address the cost-of-living crisis.
The industry must break out of the echo chamber and learn from other sectors to accelerate progress.
The industry must break out of the echo chamber and learn from other sectors to accelerate progress. As part of this, housing providers must shift from chasing grants to adopting proven, scalable, and financeable solutions that deliver meaningful impact today.
Find out more about Tallarna.
