A new partnership between Barclays Bank and Homes England will provide £1 billion of loan finance to help support small and medium sized developers, Housing Secretary James Brokenshire MP has announced.
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, whilst boasting a track record of delivering challenging projects on time and to target.
Overseen by the Government’s delivery agency Homes England, the Housing Delivery Fund is designed to 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: “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.”
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.”
