£1 billion housing delivery fund launched

James Brokenshire has announced a new partnership with Barclays Bank to provide £1 billion of loan finance for small and medium sized developers to help speed up the delivery of new homes.

The Housing Secretary said that the support, which will range between £5 million and £100 million, will be made available to those developers who are able to demonstrate the necessary experience and commitment to building excellent new homes.

The funding, which will be overseen by Homes England, will put greater emphasis on opening up the housing market, which currently sees almost two-thirds of new homes built by just ten companies. 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.

Brokenshire 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, added: “There is a vital need to build more good quality homes across the country.  This £1 billion 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.”