New National Housing Bank

Hundreds of thousands of extra homes will be delivered thanks to a bold new government-backed ‘housing bank’ that will unlock billions in private sector investment to turbocharge housebuilding.

The National Housing Bank, a subsidiary of Homes England, will be publicly owned and backed with £16Bn of financial capacity, on top of £6Bn of existing finance to be allocated this Parliament, in order to accelerate housebuilding and leverage in £53Bn of additional private investment, creating jobs and delivering over 500,000 new homes.

The trailblazing approach will see Homes England, the national housing and regeneration agency, able to issue government guarantees directly and have greater autonomy and flexibility to make the long-term investments that are needed to reform the housing market and deliver strong returns.

With long-term, flexible capital, the National Housing Bank will be able to act as a consistent partner to the private sector, bringing the stability and certainty that housing developers and investors need to make delivery happen. It will also support SMEs with new lending products and enable developers to unlock large, complex sites through infrastructure finance.

Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner: “We‘re turning the tide on the housing crisis we inherited – whether that’s fixing our broken planning system, investing £39Bn to deliver more social and affordable homes, or now creating a National Housing Bank to lever in vital investment.

“This government is delivering reform and investing in Britain’s renewal through our Plan for Change. Our foot is firmly on the accelerator when it comes to making sure a generation is no longer locked out of homeownership – or ensuring children don’t have to grow up in unsuitable temporary accommodation, and instead have the safe and secure home they deserve.”

The Bank will deploy some of the £2.5Bn in low-interest loans announced at the Spending Review to support the building of social and affordable homes.

It builds on £39Bn investment announced at the Spending Review for a new 10-year Affordable Homes Programme, which is the biggest boost to social and affordable housing investment in a generation, supporting our Plan for Change milestone to build 1.5 million homes.

This comes ahead of the government’s 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy to be published tomorrow. The strategy will set out a £725Bn plan to rebuild the UK over the coming decade, bringing together for the first time economic, social and housing infrastructure.

The Bank will help unlock a wide range of sites, including larger ones which struggle to get up front lending given their risk and complexity, using a mixture of equity investment, loans and guarantees to leverage global institutional capital into UK housing, reducing risk at the early stages of development.

It will also support SME lending by establishing additional lending alliances with private sector partners and leverage in additional capital and expertise, including providing revolving credit facilities to help SMEs to grow and build out their housing pipeline more quickly. This follows proposals previously announced to bolster the capabilities of SME developers, which provide local jobs and train construction apprentices, by streamlining and simplifying overly complex planning rules.

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