Homes England has launched its National Housing Bank alongside a new Investment Prospectus outlining its funding and support offer.
The bank is a government-backed public finance institution focused on supporting housebuilding and regeneration projects across England. It will work with developers, investors and housing providers to provide up to £16bn in loans, equity and guarantees. It will also collaborate with regional mayors through Homes England’s new operating model.
Part of Homes England, the bank aims to support the delivery of more than 500,000 homes and major regeneration schemes, while helping to unlock over £53bn in private investment over the next decade.
The launch is accompanied by Homes England’s Investment Prospectus, which brings together its funding products, land, powers and technical support into a single document for partners and local authorities.
Based in Leeds, the bank will prioritise projects that are ready to proceed. It has also announced a £100m partnership with Aviva to support the delivery of up to 3,300 rental homes in underinvested urban areas, including an initial 300 homes in Liverpool and Manchester.
The launch was marked at a Homes England event in London on Tuesday, attended by industry stakeholders.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed said: “Launching England’s first ever National Housing Bank underpins a new way of doing things as we accelerate housebuilding at scale and tackle the housing crisis head on.”
Now open for business, the Bank will rake in billions of pounds of essential private investment to get spades in the ground for half a million new homes. This is just one of the many levers we’re pulling to make sure we reach our 1.5 million target this Parliament.
Homes England chair Pat Ritchie said: “The opening of the National Housing Bank and launch of the Investment Prospectus build on Homes England’s expertise at providing a wide range of finance to partners and places to unlock the delivery of new housing and mixed-use schemes.
“The National Housing Bank directly responds to calls from the housing sector, mayors and local leaders to increase the scale and flexibility of available public and private finance for housing and regeneration, to build the homes and communities our county needs.
“Our Investment Strategy puts place at the heart of how we invest, developing innovative tailored packages of support for the whole housing and regeneration system, bringing together grant, debt, equity, guarantees, land and expertise around local priorities.
Amy Rees CB, chief executive of Homes England, commented: “The launch of both the National Housing Bank and Homes England’s Investment Prospectus are a watershed moment and mark an unprecedented scale of ambition and investment to deliver homes and regeneration across the country.
“Both institutions have up to £46bn of capital to deploy over the next decade, including £27bn of social and affordable housing grant, a share of £5bn for land and infrastructure and up to £16bn of debt, equity and guarantees.
“The Investment Prospectus is explicit about the challenges facing the housing system, including affordability, viability, stalled land, constrained finance and delivery risk. Homes England and the National Housing Bank will step in where those market failures exist and help unlock delivery at pace.
“Our message to partners and investors is a simple one: please get in touch and talk to us. We are open for business and are committed to shaping the right solutions for a place or project.
Simon Century, chief executive of the National Housing Bank, said: “The National Housing Bank will back delivery at scale and act at pace, providing government-backed finance to de-risk projects and unlock delivery the market cannot change alone.
“Our ambition and scale as a public finance institution creates the conditions for long-term, stable investment, focusing on delivery and giving investors confidence whilst enabling more innovative, scalable delivery models.
“With delegated authority, we will take decisions quickly and proactively, acting as an enabler, not a barrier, to the market.
Peter Vernon, chair of the National Housing Bank, added: “The National Housing Bank builds on Homes England’s strong track record, including long-standing investment in housing delivery and working in partnership with investors, developers and places.
“Building on this strong foundation and deploying substantial new firepower and flexibilities the Bank will look to build deeper and broader partnerships across the sector to accelerate early delivery as this significant day one investment clearly demonstrates.