The UK Government has launched a new partnership with Barclays Bank to provide £1 billion of loan finance to help support small and medium-sized developers to help build thousands of new homes across England to help increase the pace and volume of housing provision.
Housing Secretary James Brokenshire MP announced the new partnership with Barclays Bank in September to provide £1 billion of loan finance. Support, ranging between £5 million to £100 million, will be made available to those developers who are able to demonstrate the necessary experience and commitment to building excellent new homes, whilst boasting a track record of delivering challenging projects on time and to target.
Funding is open to new clients as well as existing Barclays clients and will put greater emphasis on diversifying the housing market, as at present, almost two-thirds of homes are built by just ten companies.
Overseen by the Government's delivery agency Homes England, the funding will put greater emphasis on opening up the housing market, which sees almost two-thirds of new homes built by just ten companies at present. 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.
"My priority as Housing Secretary is to get Britain building the homes our country needs," said James Brokenshire. "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."
A key priority of the Housing Delivery Fund is to support small and medium-sized businesses to develop homes for rent or sale including social housing, retirement living and the private rented sector, whilst also supporting innovation in the model of delivery such as brownfield land and urban regeneration projects.
Launching the fund, 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, added: "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. Today's agreement with Barclays 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."
Of the £1 billion fund, Barclays is providing £875 million and Homes England, the Government's national housing agency, will contribute £125 million. The total funding for a development scheme is up to 80% Loan to Cost and 70% Loan to Value allowing developers to stretch their equity/capital further. A minimum of 10 homes must be built as part of the development and they must be in England.
For more information, core eligibility criteria, important guidance on funding requirements or to make an application call 0800 015 1921 to speak to a member of the Barclays team. Or visit www.gov.uk/homes-england
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