£1Bn fund launched to support house building

The government has launched a new partnership with Barclays Bank, which will see some £1Bn available in loan finance to help support small and medium sized developers deliver new housing.

The funding forms part of the Government’s wider commitment to increase the pace of housing delivery in England. Ministers have been clear on their ambition to achieve 300,000 new homes a year by the mid-2020s, which follows 217,000 homes built last year, the biggest increase in housing supply in England for almost a decade.

Almost two-thirds of new homes built are currently built by just ten companies, the funding is designed to open up the housing market to more developers.

Housing Secretary James Brokenshire MP announced the support, ranging between £5M to £100M, will be made available to those developers who are able to demonstrate the necessary experience and commitment to building excellent new homes. The developers will also need a track record of delivering challenging projects on time and to target.

Overseen by Homes England, the Housing Delivery Fund will support the delivery of new homes, including social housing, retirement living and apartments for rent, whilst also encouraging greater innovation on how housing is delivered such as brownfield land and urban regeneration projects.

Housing Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, said: “My priority as Housing Secretary is to get Britain building the homes our country needs. This new fund – partnering Homes England with Barclays – is a further important step by giving smaller builders access to the finance they need to get housing developments off the ground.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to not only get more homes built but also promote new and innovative approaches to construction and design that exist across the housing market.”

John McFarlane, Barclays’ Chairman, said: “There is a vital need to build more good quality homes across the country. This £1Bn fund is about helping to do exactly that by showing firms in the business of house building that the right finance is available for projects that help meet this urgent need.

“We are very pleased to be working with government to get the country building more homes, more quickly.”

Chairman of Homes England, Sir Ed Lister, said: “Homes England has been established to play a more active role in the housing market and do things differently to increase the pace, scale and quality of delivering new homes.

“The Housing Delivery Fund demonstrates Barclays’ commitment to the residential sector and will provide a new funding stream for SME developers to help progress sites and deliver more affordable homes across England.”

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